35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Super Hero GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

George Washington Carver 

Who would have guessed that a little African-American boy kidnapped from his owner's plantation and ransomed by his master in exchange for a racehorse would later revolutionize agriculture? But those were the humble beginnings for Dr. George Washington Carver. This famous African-American scientist looked at the damage America's one-crop system was doing and revolutionized farming. He developed an agriculture made for the problems of the South, which saved the South's dying farming system by introducing the right crop combinations, and finding and promoting markets for them. 

Carver pressed for the introduction of vegetables that did not rob the soil of nitrates as cotton does. Since fertilizer was scarce, his idea of planting peanuts made sense. 

Carver was born a slave, possibly in 1860 or 1861. At 13, he ventured off by himself to make his way in a troubled world. He had no money, support, or education. All he had was a dream—education at all costs. He courageously worked for his high school diploma. That whetted his appetite for higher education. 

After several rejections, Carver became the first Black student at Simpson College in Iowa and at Iowa State University. He paid his tuition by opening a laundry business. In 1894, he received a bachelor's degree in agricultural science and, a few years later, a master's degree. This was the same year the Supreme Court embraced segregation with its ruling supporting the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which declared "separate but equal" was constitutional. That same year, Carver became the first Black faculty member at his alma mater. Simpson later awarded him a science doctorate. 

Carver went on to make a big name for himself with his teaching and research activities. In 1896, Booker T. Washington, head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, offered Carver the top position in the school's agriculture department. Carver accepted. 

He stayed at Tuskegee, turning down publicity and royalties for his inventions, except when he could talk about Tuskegee, the school he loved. He received several lucrative job offers, including ones from Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, but he preferred to stay at Tuskegee. 

By 1921, when Carver appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the many uses of the peanut, he was on the verge of becoming a nationally known scientist. He soon became known as the "Wizard of Tuskegee." Carver first experimented with peanuts in 1903. In a decade and a half, he developed more than 300 products, including foods, beverages, dyes, and cosmetics made from the peanut. 

Because of Carver's testimony, the U.S. government imposed a tariff on imported peanuts, which delighted Southern peanut farmers who were producing 40 million bushels annually by 1920. Another effect of Carver's appearance before the House Committee was his emergence as a folk hero. He became the subject of several biographies and a movie, and for years he was one of a handful of African Americans ever mentioned in textbooks. 

Books about Carver note his discoveries of several uses of the sweet potato and also how he made his scientific crop knowledge accessible to the average person. Farmers needed to understand the information about new crops in order to use it effectively. Additionally, at the suggestion of Tuskegee founder Booker T. Washington, Carver took his science show on the road in a wagon outfitted for agricultural demonstrations and exhibitions, called the "Jesup Wagon." 

Carver died in 1943, and he left his estate to the George Washington Carver Foundation as his unselfish way of giving back all the love, knowledge, and attention he had received.

From Great African Americans.  Copyright, Publications International, Ltd.