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George Washington Carver was born into slavery in 1864. Since slave births, as a practice, went undocumented the actual date of his birth is unknown. Some sources note January 1864 and others note July 12, 1864 as possible birth dates.
Carver was born on the Moses Carter Plantation, in Diamond Grove (today known as Diamond), Missouri. It is said that Moses Carter treated his slaves as decent as a man who upheld the institution of slavery could. Young George was sickly and frail. The Carter family developed a strong affection for him. Due to his ill health, he was not required to work in the cotton or crop fields. However, it was while playing in the fields of the plantation that he first showed an affinity and aptitude for plant life. Young Carver's interest in plant life earned him the nickname, "The Plant Doctor".
Carver's father died shortly after he was born. Tragically, when
he was still an infant George and his mother were both stolen off the plantation by thieves. The Carter family loved baby George so much that they got him back by trading a race horse for him. Unfortunately, Carver's mother was never recovered. From this point on, Moses Carter and his wife raised George as their step-son and allowed him priveledges beyond that of a slave, eventually granting him his freedom.
In 1874, around the age of 10, George left the Moses Carter Plantation in search of the formal education that was prohibited to African-Americans in Diamond Grove. At the age of 12 he was finally accepted at a one-room school house in Newton County, Missouri, where he traded farm labor for an education. After seeing a black man beaten to death in the streets of Newton County, Carver left the state of Missouri for good. He move to Minneapolis, Kansas and graduated from Minneapolis High School.
Carver's goal was to attend college but he had been turned down by several scholastic institutions because of his race. Finally in 1890, Carver was accepted at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he excelled in fine art. It was George's love for plant life that gave reason for him to transfer to Iowa Agricultural College (today known as Iowa State University). He graduated with a bachelors degree in 1894. This was a profound feat for a black man in the 1890's.
Carver's accomplishments at Iowa Agricultural College so impressed the Board of Deans that they offered him a position to teach there. He became the first African-American to hold a position on the faculty of Iowa State University. He was authorized to use the school's laboratory and greenhouse facilities often as needed. and he took full advantage of this opportunity.
Carver undertook advanced researches in botany and agricultural sciences while also teaching and working on his Masters Degree at the University. In 1895, he collaborated on a study about the prevention and cures of cherry plant fungi that was published and released in professional journals. In 1896, George Washington Carver earned his Masters Degree in agriculture from Iowa State University. Through his research, while there, he discovered two previously unknown strains of fungus that were named in his honor.
In 1897, Booker T. Washington, president and founder of Tuskegee Institute, an all black university in Tuskegee, Alabama, convinced Carver to accept the position as Head of the School of Agriculture. While teaching at Tuskegee Institute (today known as Tuskegee University) Carver began a personal investigation of the mounting problems facing the share croppers and poor farmers of the early 20th century deep South. This was a subject he was self-driven to resolve
Prior to Reconstruction, cotton had been the staple crop for southern farmers. Years upon years of planting the nutrient depleting cotton had severely damaged the soil. It yielded less and less healthy crop each year. Compounding the problem, was the onslaught of the boll weevil plagues of the early 1900's. This served as the knock-out blow for the cotton industry. Cotton was no longer a viable crop for the small farmer. Carver stepped in and convinced the independent farmers and share croppers (many African-American) to consider planting alternative crops to cotton. He educated them on crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes and soy beans. These type crops would replenish the soil nutrients depleted by the cotton plants. He taught them that these plants would not only repair the soil but also feed their families while providing an income. Carver then educated them on the proper methods of crop rotation. This prevented the soil from ever incurring any further depletion of its nutrients. While at Tuskegee Institute, Carver wrote 44 farming bulletins to aide and educate the small farmers and share croppers.
Carver's enthusiasm for agricultural sciences led him to many discoveries in that field of study. Using the inadequate and antiquated equipment available to him at Tuskegee Institute, George Washington Carver was still able to develop 105 recipes using the peanut. He also created and invented over 100 different products from the dissemination of the peanut, sweet potato and soy bean. Products such as, paints, dyes, plastics, cosmetics, fuels and even explosives, to name a few.
In 1937, while attending a conference in Dearborn, Michigan, Carver was introduced to, automobile mogul, Henry Ford. The two soon became close friends. With the backing of Ford, Carver invented a tough and durable plastic from the soy bean that is still, in principal, used in the automotive industry today.
in his small quarters on the college campus, close to his laboratory. He wore the same clothes and was often criticized by his African-American peers, including Booker T. Washington, for not presenting a higher station in life. They didn't realize that George Washington Carver was a very simple man whose goal was to remain living the simple life. No amount of fame or money could alter his determination to keep his life as stress free and normal as possible. Many today could learn from that philosophy.
Carver's most important and his proudest accomplishment was disproving the stereotype that portrayed African-American people as intellectually inferior and incapable of anything except menial labor or providing musical or comical entertainment. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for showing the world the magnitude of intellectual ability an African-American mind could achieve when given the opportunity. This was the primary reason why Mr Carver remained teaching. His goal was to nurture the minds of our young African-American students and instill in them the belief that if they worked hard and strived for it, they too, would have the opportunity to show that they could be something other than porters, maids, comedians and minstrels. They could compete with the strongest intellectual minds of the world.
George Washington Carver died at the age of 73, on January 5, 1943 due to complications from a severe fall he incurred while on campus. He died doing the thing he most loved to do. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the campus of Tuskegee University.
Written by Carl G. Brown
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