Historical Figure
George Washington Carver
d. 1943
American botanist and inventor (1864–1943)
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Biography
George Washington Carver was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.
In Their Own Words (5)
More and more as we come closer and closer in touch with nature and its teachings are we able to see the Divine and are therefore fitted to interpret correctly the various languages spoken by all forms of nature about us.
How to Search for Truth, letter to Hubert W. Pelt (1930-02-24) , 1930
I know that my Redeemer lives. Thank God I love humanity, complexion doesn't interest me one single a bit.
George Washington Carver: In His Own Words (1991), edited by Gary R. Kremer, University of Missouri Press, p. 131 , 1991
I love to think of nature as unlimited broadcasting stations, through which God speaks to us every day, every hour and every moment of our lives, if we will only tune in and remain so.
How to Search for Truth, letter to Hubert W. Pelt (1930-02-24) , 1930
Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater. Keep your thoughts free from hate, and you need have no fear from those who hate you.
Quoted in Linda O. McMurray, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Symbol (Oxford University Press, 1982), p. 107 , 1982
The virgin fertility of our soils and the vast amount of unskilled labor have been more of a curse than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system for cultivation, the destruction of forest, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, have made our agricultural problem one requiring more brains than of the North, East or West.
The Need of Scientific Agriculture in the South (Tuskegee Institute, 1902) , 1902
Timeline
The story of George Washington Carver, told in moments.
Born into slavery in Diamond, Missouri. Kidnapped as an infant with his mother by Confederate raiders. His owner Moses Carver traded a racehorse to get the baby back. His mother was never found.
Became the first Black student at Iowa State Agricultural College. He earned a master's degree in botany. His thesis adviser tried to keep him in Iowa, but Booker T. Washington had other plans.
Arrived at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He'd been offered a lab. Instead he found an empty room. He built his first equipment from junkyard scraps.
Published "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing It for Human Consumption." He eventually catalogued over 300 peanut products, from dye to milk to axle grease.
Died at Tuskegee at about 78. His grave reads "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."
Artifacts (1)
George Washington Carver and Student
Clifton Johnson
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