When George Washington Carver, one of America’s most prolific botanists and scientists, was born in 1864, it was to enslaved African American parents. Just one year later, slavery was abolished in the United States. Although he grew up as a free man, Carver’s life was marked by poverty and racial discrimination.
OCTOBER 05: CARVER, GEORGE WASHINGTON. Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston. 1906. (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)
In spite of the obstacles in his path – or perhaps, because of them – Carver, shown here in a colorized photograph from 1906, found a path to education and became one of the country’s foremost agricultural scientists. Let’s take a brief look at the accomplishments of this brilliant scientist, educator, environmentalist, and advocate.
Childhood Challenges
George Washington Carver, who was born into slavery and subsequently became a celebrated agricultural scientist, in his lab. ca.1935. (biography)
The exact date of George Washington Carver’s birth was not recorded. The births of slave children were rarely documented. But we do know that Carver was born one year before the end of slavery in the U.S. He was just a week old when he was kidnapped by slave raiders along with his mother and sister. Carver’s master was able to secure Carver’s safe return, but his mother and sister were sold in Kentucky. Carver, along with his older brother James, were raised by the master, Moses Carver, and his wife, Susan. Susan Carver taught the boys to read and write and encouraged their academic interests. Carver graduated from high school and applied to numerous colleges. All of them turned down his application because he was black.
Agricultural Experience
Carver experimented on plants. (smithsonian.com)
Since he couldn’t get into college, George Washington Carver took a homestead claim in Kansas. There, he learned to grow a wide variety of plants, including corn, rice, garden vegetables, and fruit trees. Attitudes evolved over time and, in 1888, Carver was finally admitted into a college, Iowa’s Simpson College. His teachers recognized his brilliance and recommended he transfer to Iowa State Agricultural College to major in botany. When he started classes there in 1891, he was the only black student. When he finished with his bachelor’s degree in 1894, he became the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in the United States. He conducted research in plant pathology that earned him national recognition. After graduation, he joined the faculty at Iowa State as the first black faculty member while earning his master’s degree in agriculture.
Carver, Booker T. Washington, and the Tuskegee Institute
George Washington Carver front row center poses with fellow faculty of Tuskegee Institute in this c. 1902 photograph taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston. (Wikipedia) Colorized
George Washington Carver joined forces with Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama to start an agricultural school on campus. Carver worked for the Tuskegee Institute the rest of his life. Even though he was in a facility devoted to educating African Americans, he still faced many challenges. Most farmers in the South didn’t see the value of going to college to learn farming when they could learn all they needed to know on the job. Carver also had to balance the demands of teaching with his desire to continue with his research.
Improvements to Farming
George Washington Carver with students in his laboratory at Tuskegee Institute. Undated photograph. (Getty Images)
George Washington Carver used his scientific education to implement some new techniques to make great improvements to traditional farming practices. For example, he proved that poor farmers could use acorns to feed their hogs to save the cost of commercial livestock feed. His experiments with soil quality led Carver to develop his idea of crop rotation to replenish nutrients in the soil. He advocated for growing peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans because the nitrogen-rich plants could restore the fertility in soil that had been depleted by years of growing cotton.
Carver and Peanuts
Carver as a young man. (d11.og)
George Washington Carver encourages Southern farmers to rotate between growing cotton and growing peanuts. Most farmers, however, balked at this idea because they could make more money selling cotton than peanuts. Carver set out to solve this problem by developing numerous commercial uses for peanuts. These included dyes and inks, peanut flour, soaps, medications, wood stains and paints, and cooking oils. His peanut products never gained widespread use. Ironically, one of the most popular peanut products of all times – peanut butter – was not created by George Washington Carver. It was patented in 1884 by Marcellus Gilmore Edson.
An Advocate for Racial Equality
Carver in his lab at the Tuskegee Institute. (britannica.com)
Throughout much of his life, George Washington Carver worked to promote racial equality. He travelled across the South to educate poor farmers about his new farming techniques. He hoped that, through better farming methods, he could help elevate poor black farmers out of poverty. In addition, he spoke about proper nutrition to improve the health of the poor black people. Perhaps one of his biggest legacies was being a role model. As a highly educated, highly accomplished African American man, he showed others that it was possible for a poor former slave to escape the poverty of the post-Civil War era and find success.
