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Information about George Washington Carver

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Information about George Washington Carver

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George Washington Carver - The Peanut Doctor

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Watch a short video about George Washington Carver and his life as a pioneering African-American scientist.

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Carver also believed in making things instead of buying them. In "Help for the Hard Times" he suggested making things to sell: wood shingles, fence posts, baskets, quilts, and lace. He also suggested making and selling fruit and vegetable preserves. What other ways could farmers make money?

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Caption George Washington Carver, circa 1910.

Credit: Public domain.

George Washington Carver was a prominent American scientist and inventor in the early 1900s. Carver developed hundreds of products using the peanut, sweet potatoes and soybeans. He also was a champion of crop rotation and agricultural education. Born into slavery, today he is an icon of American ingenuity and the transformative potential of education.

Carver was likely born in January or June of 1864. His exact birth date is unknown because he was born a slave on the farm of Moses Carver in Diamond, Missouri. Very little is known about George's father, who may have been a field hand named Giles who was killed in a farming accident before George was born. George's mother was named Mary; he had several sisters, and a brother named James.

When George was only a few weeks old, Confederate raiders invaded the farm, kidnapping George, his mother and sister. They were sold in Kentucky, and only George was found by an agent of Moses Carver and returned to Missouri. Carver and his wife, Susan, raised George and James and taught them to read.

James soon gave up the lessons, preferring to work in the fields with his foster father. George was not a strong child and was not able to work in the fields, so Susan taught the boy to help her in the kitchen garden and to make simple herbal medicines. George became fascinated by plants and was soon experimenting with natural pesticides, fungicides and soil conditioners. Local farmers began to call George "the plant doctor," as he was able to tell them how to improve the health of their garden plants.

At his wife's insistence, Moses found a school that would accept George as a student. George walked the 10 miles several times a week to attend the School for African American Children in Neosho, Kan. When he was about 13 years old, he left the farm to move to Ft. Scott, Kan., but he later moved to Minneapolis, Kan., to attend high school. He earned much of his tuition by working in the kitchen of a local hotel. He concocted new recipes, which he entered in local baking contests. He graduated from Minneapolis High School in 1880 and set his sights on college.

George first applied to Highland Presbyterian College in Kansas. The college was impressed by George's application essay and granted him a full scholarship. When he arrived at the school, however, he was turned away - they hadn't realized he was black. Over the next few years, George worked at a variety of jobs. He homesteaded a farm in Kansas, worked a ranch in New Mexico, and worked for the railroads, always saving money and looking for a college that would accept him.

In 1888, George enrolled as the first black student at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He began studying art and piano, expecting to earn a teaching degree. Carver later said, "The kind of people at Simpson College made me believe I was a human being." Recognizing the unusual attention to detail in his paintings of plants and flowers his instructor, Etta Budd, encouraged him to apply to Iowa State Agricultural School (now Iowa State University) to study Botany.

At Iowa State, Carver was the first African American student to earn his Bachelor of Science in 1894. His professors were so impressed by his work on the fungal infections common to soybean plants that he was asked to remain as part of the faculty to work on his master's degree (awarded in 1896). Working as director of the Iowa State Experimental Station, Carver discovered two types of fungi, which were subsequently named for him. Carver also began experiments in crop rotation, using soy plantings to replace nitrogen in depleted soil. Before long, Carver became well known as a leading agricultural scientist.

In April 1896, Carver received a letter from Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute, one of the first African American colleges in the United States. "I cannot offer you money, position or fame," read this letter. "The first two you have. The last from the position you now occupy you will no doubt achieve. These things I now ask you to give up. I offer you in their place: work - hard work, the task of bringing people from degradation, poverty and waste to full manhood. Your department exists only on paper and your laboratory will have to be in your head." Washington's offer was $125.00 per month (a substantial cut from Carver's Iowa State salary) and the luxury of two rooms for living quarters (most Tuskegee faculty members had just one). It was an offer that George Carver accepted immediately and the place where he worked for the remainder of his life.

Carver was determined to use his knowledge to help poor farmers of the rural South. He began by introducing the idea of crop rotation. In the Tuskegee experimental fields, Carver settled on peanuts because it was a simple crop to grow and had excellent nitrogen fixating properties to improve soil depleted by growing cotton. He took his lessons to former slaves turned sharecroppers by inventing the Jessup Wagon, a horse-drawn classroom and laboratory for demonstrating soil chemistry. Farmers were ecstatic with the large cotton crops resulting from the cotton/peanut rotation, but were less enthusiastic about the huge surplus of peanuts that built up and began to rot in local storehouses.

George Washington Carver working in his laboratory.

Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Carver heard the complaints and retired to his laboratory for a solid week, during which he developed several new products that could be produced from peanuts. When he introduced these products to the public in a series of simple brochures, the market for peanuts skyrocketed. Today, Carver is credited with saving the agricultural economy of the rural South.

From his work at Tuskegee, Carver developed approximately 300 products made from peanuts; these included: flour, paste, insulation, paper, wall board, wood stains, soap, shaving cream and skin lotion. He experimented with medicines made from peanuts, which included antiseptics, laxatives and a treatment for goiter.

Contrary to popular belief, while Carver developed a version of peanut butter, he did not invent it. The Incas developed a paste made out of ground peanuts as far back as 950 B.C. In the United States, according to the National Peanut Board, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, of cereal fame, invented a version of peanut butter in 1895.

A St. Louis physician may have developed peanut butter as a protein substitute for people who had poor teeth and couldn't chew meat. Peanut butter was introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.

During World War I, Carver was asked to assist Henry Ford in producing a peanut-based replacement for rubber. Also during the war, when dyes from Europe became difficult to obtain, he helped the American textile industry by developing more than 30 colors of dye from Alabama soils.

After the War, George added a "W" to his name to honor Booker T. Washington. Carver continued to experiment with peanut products and became interested in sweet potatoes, another nitrogen-fixing crop. Products he invented using sweet potatoes include: wood fillers, more than 73 dyes, rope, breakfast cereal, synthetic silk, shoe polish and molasses. He wrote several brochures on the nutritional value of sweet potatoes and the protein found in peanuts, including recipes he invented for use of his favorite plants. He even went to India to confer with Mahatma Gandhi on nutrition in developing nations.

In 1920, Carver delivered a speech to the new Peanut Growers Association of America. This organization was advocating that Congress pass a tariff law to protect the new American industry from imported crops. As a result of this speech, he testified before Congress in 1921 and the tariff was passed in 1922. In 1923, Carver was named as Speaker for the United States Commission on Interracial Cooperation, a post he held until 1933. In 1935, he was named head of the Division of Plant Mycology and Disease Survey for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By 1938, largely due to Carver's influence, peanuts had grown to be a $200-million-per-year crop in the United States and were the chief agricultural product grown in the state of Alabama.

Carver died on Jan. 5, 1943. At his death, he left his life savings, more than $60,000, to found the George Washington Carver Institute for Agriculture at Tuskegee. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated funds to erect a monument at Diamond, Missouri, in his honor.

Commemorative postage stamps were issued in 1948 and again in 1998. A George Washington Carver half-dollar coin was minted between 1951 and 1954. There are two U.S. military vessels named in his honor.

There are also numerous scholarships and schools named for him. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Simpson College. Since his exact birth date is unknown, Congress has designated January 5 as George Washington Carver Recognition Day.

Carver only patented three of his inventions. In his words, "It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success."

"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."

"Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater."

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom."

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."

"Where there is no vision, there is no hope."

"Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise."

"There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation - veneer isn't worth anything."

"Learn to do common things uncommonly well; we must always keep in mind that anything that helps fill the dinner pail is valuable."

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George Washington Carver: Biography, Inventions & Quotes

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George Washington Carver was a prominent American scientist and inventor in the early 1900s. Carver developed hundreds of products using the peanut, sweet potatoes and soybeans. He also was a champion of crop rotation and agricultural education. Born into slavery, today he is an icon of American ingenuity and the transformative potential of education.

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Great Innovators: "George Washington Carver: The Wizard of Tuskegee" by StoryBots | Netflix Jr

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George Washington Carver "The Plant Doctor" Revolutionized Farming Industry | Biography

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George Washington Carver Biography Website

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George Washington Carver Biography Website

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Early Years

George Washington Carver was born sometime around June 12, 1864, near Diamond, Missouri. Born into slavery, he, his sister, and mother were kidnapped by slave raiders when he was an infant. Although he was eventually returned to his owners, George developed a severe whooping cough during the escapade and could not perform the work expected of slaves. As a result, George would spend his days wandering the fields and meadows, learning about different plants.

The Struggle for Education

After the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, George's former masters decided to raise him as their own son. They encouraged him to pursue academic goals, and his aunt taught him how to read and write. George went to great lengths to find schools that would allow black students and traveled through much of Missouri and Kansas. He finally earned his high school diploma from Minneapolis High in Minneapolis, Kansas. After high school, he opened a laundry business in Olathe, Kansas. Over the next few years, George tried to enroll in numerous colleges but was continually rejected because of his race. In 1887, he was finally accepted by Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He would become the second African-American to enroll. While at Simpson, Carver showed great potential and later transferred to Iowa State University where he earned his master's degree in botany and conducted research on plant pathology and mycology (the study of fungi).

Crop Rotation and Experiments on Beans

After he completed his master's degree, George was invited to teach at the Tuskegee Institute, a new college for African-Americans run by Booker T. Washington. While at Tuskegee, Carver developed an interest in helping poor African-American farmers. Farmers in the south worked on poor soil, depleted of nitrogen by the annual cotton crops. Carver and his colleagues taught the farmers how to retain nutrients in the soil by using a crop rotation, a system in which the cotton crop was alternated with other crops such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. Carver's crop rotation improved cotton yields and gave farmers additional crops from which they could earn money. In addition, Carver conducted numerous experiments on peanuts, soybeans, cow beans, and pecans, finding hundreds of practical uses for them including dyes, cosmetics, paints, plastics, and even gasoline. Carver designed a mobile classroom known as a Jesup Wagon which could be transported from place to place. Carver's reputation as a botanist and researcher began to grow, and he was named a member in the Royal Society of Arts in England, a famous English society dedicated to improving and challenging scientific practices and theories among other things. In 1922, Carver was instrumental in convincing Congress to place tariffs on peanuts imported from China that were making it impossible for American peanut farmers to make a living. Carver quickly became famous and published numerous articles and "bulletins" concerning peanuts and their uses. Carter would later experiment with peanut oil and its possibilities for easing symptoms of polio in infants.

Legacy and Dedications

George Washington Carver died in 1943 after falling down a flight of stairs. In his will, he dedicated his entire life savings to the George Washington Carver Foundation at Tuskegee University, which was established two years earlier. After his death, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated land in southwestern Missouri for the George Washington Carver National Monument. It was the first national monument for an African-American and for a non-president.

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George Washington Carver Biography for Kids

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George Washington Carver was born sometime around June 12, 1864, near Diamond, Missouri. Born into slavery, he, his sister, and mother were kidnapped by slave raiders when he was an infant. Although he was eventually returned to his owners, George developed a severe whooping cough during the escapade and could not perform the work expected of slaves.

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Interesting Facts about George Washington Carver

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Interesting Facts about George Washington Carver

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George Washington Carver is known for his work with peanuts (though he did not invent peanut butter, as some may believe). However, there's a lot more to this scientist and inventor than simply being "the Peanut Man." Read on for seven insights into Carver, his life and his accomplishments.

1. He was known as the young "plant doctor."

Even as a child, Carver was interested in nature. Spared from demanding work because of his poor health, he had the time to study plants. His talents flourished to the extent that people started to ask him for help with their ailing vegetation.

In a 1922 interview, he recalled, "Often the people of the neighborhood who had plants would say to me, 'George, my fern is sick. See what you can do with it.' I would take their plants off to my garden and there soon have them blooming again ... At this time I had never heard of botany and could scarcely read."

Though Carver would gain new skills over the years, the path he'd follow in life was clear.

2. Appearing before Congress made him the "Peanut Man."

Besides peanuts, Carver's research also involved clays, seeds, and sweet potatoes. So why is his name associated with just one legume? It's thanks in large part to an appearance he made before the House Ways and Means Committee.

In 1920, Carver spoke at the United Peanut Association of America's convention. He was such a success that the group decided to have him tell Congress about peanuts and the need for a tariff in January of 1921.

Though his congressional presentation didn't start out well-the representatives weren't predisposed to listen to a black man-Carver ended up winning over the committee. They were drawn into testimony that covered many of the products Carver had created with peanuts, such as flour, milk, dyes and cheese, and ended up inviting him to take as much time as he needed to talk.

After his appearance, peanuts and Carver were intertwined in the public's mind. The scientist didn't mind the association; however, when asked in 1938 if his work with peanuts was his best, Carver answered: "No, but it has been featured more than my other work."

3. He believed peanuts could fight polio.

Polio victims were often left with weakened muscles or paralyzed limbs. Carver felt that peanuts-or rather peanut oil-could help these people regain some lost function.

In the 1930s, Carver began to treat patients with peanut oil massages. He reported positive results, which in turn made more and more people want to undergo the treatment. Even Franklin Delano Roosevelt joined in; gifted with the oil by Carver, he told the scientist, "I do use peanut oil from time to time and I am sure that it helps."

Unfortunately, despite the improvements that Carver witnessed and reported, there was never any scientific evidence that peanut oil actually helped polio victims recover. Instead, the patients may have benefited from the massage treatment itself, as well as the attentive care that Carver provided.

4. He didn't write down details.

Though Carver worked on many products, both peanut and non-peanut, he didn't see the need to keep detailed records.

In 1937, Carver was asked for a list of the peanut products that he'd developed. He wrote in reply, "There are more than 300 of them. I do not attempt to keep a list, as a list today would not be the same tomorrow, if I am allowed to work on that particular product. To keep a list would also give the Institute a great deal of trouble, as people would write wanting to know why one list differs from another. For this reason we have stopped sending out lists."

However, Carver did see the point in writing down advice and recipes, which he shared in agricultural bulletins such as "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" (1916). So while you can't see all of Carver's formulas, Carver's instructions for peanut soup, peanut bread, peanut cake and more are available!

5. He was a well-connected man.

Carver was a friend, colleague or associate to a veritable "Who's Who" of the 20th century. This began in 1896, when Booker T. Washington hired him to oversee the agricultural department at the Tuskegee Institute.

Between 1919 and 1926, Carver corresponded with John Harvey Kellogg (of cereal fame), as they shared an interest in food and health. Carver and automaker Henry Ford quickly struck up a friendship after meeting in 1937. Carver would stop by Ford's laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, and Ford himself visited Tuskegee in Alabama. Ford also gave the funds to install an elevator in Carver's dormitory as the scientist grew weaker in his later years.

Carver's connections also extended outside the United States. Supporters of Mahatma Gandhi asked Carver for advice about how Gandhi could build up strength in between hunger strikes. And the Indian leader wrote Carver to thank him for sending agricultural bulletins.

With these connections, it's safe to say Carver was as well-known in his day as he is now.

6. He considered weeds "nature's vegetables."

Along with peanuts, Carver felt that weeds-or "nature's vegetables"-were a nutritious and undeveloped food source for America. Carver once noted, "There is no need for America to go hungry as long as nature provides weeds and wild vegetables..."

Henry Ford shared this appreciation for wild greens. He'd happily eat sandwiches made by his friend Carver, which contained ingredients such as wild onion, pepper grass, chickweed, wild lettuce and rabbit tobacco.

But before you rush outside to harvest your next salad or sandwich filling, you should know that not everyone was a fan of Carver's weed-based preparations: "They tasted terrible and if we didn't say they were good he got mad," a former student of Carver's complained in 1948.

7. He cared about people, not money.

Throughout his life, Carver's actions demonstrated how little he cared for money. For example, he turned down a six-figure job offer from Thomas Edison. Carver also didn't spend much on clothes (and consequently was always shabbily dressed).

In addition, Carver filed only three patents on the products he'd developed. As he explained, "One reason I never patent my products is that if I did, it would take so much time I would get nothing else done. But mainly I don't want any discoveries to benefit specific favored persons. I think they should be available to all peoples."

In 1917, Carter revealed what motivated him: "Well, some day I will have to leave this world. And when that day comes, I want to feel that my life has been of some service to my fellow man." When he passed away in 1943, it would seem he had lived just such a life.

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George Washington Carver is known for his work with peanuts (though he did not invent peanut butter, as some may believe). However, there's a lot more to this scientist and inventor than simply being "the Peanut Man." Read on for seven insights into Carver, his life and his accomplishments.