George Washington Carver

Have you ever wondered where we got all this peanut stuff from? No, peanut butter ice cream didn't just appear in the stores one day. It was created by a wonderful man! Well, maybe you don't think he is wonderful, but without this man we wouldn't have many of the peanut products that we have today. He even made soap out of peanut items! He made a big impact on the world.

George Washington Carver was born on a slave farm near Diamond, Missouri. In 1864, after his birth his father died in an accident and he and his mother were kidnapped. The kidnappers took him and his mother to Arkansas. Carver's mother was never seen again, but Carver was brought back to his house. Carver was brought up by the people that owned his parents. Carver would wander outside when he had extra time and examine the plants. Carver soon learned that blacks were not allowed to go to some schools. At the age of ten Carver asked his parent's permission to go to a black school in Neosha which was 8 miles away. That was the start of George Washington Carver's education.

In 1880 Carver entered Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. At first Carver was interested in art, but he then decided to focus on agriculture. After researching a lot about agriculture Carver went to Iowa State College. His teachers were very impressed with his work. They were so impressed that they appointed him to the faculty when he completed his undergraduate work in 1894. He was Iowa State's first black faculty member.

Carver moved to Alabama to join the faculty at Tuskegee Institute. Tuskegee was an industry and agriculture school for blacks. Carver became director of a state agriculture station. He began to study ways of improving crop products. He taught more productive agriculture to black farmers.

After 1914 Carver started to research peanuts. Carver wondered why people were just planting certain products like cotton or corn? Carver showed many people that peanuts were good farming products by making speeches and presentations. Carver wanted to encourage farmers to plant different products. He showed people that peanuts were nutritious and would be a great thing to grow. Many farmers in southern states started to grow peanuts. George Washington Carver made over 300 peanut products out of plants including ink, milk, and soap. Carver was called, " the Peanut Man". Carver also made 118 sweet potato products!

In 1940 Carver gave his life savings of $33,000 to Tuskegee Institute. Carver got many awards including, the Spingarn Medal, the Theodore Roosevelt Medal, and he was named a fellow of Royal Society of Arts of London.

So next time you eat some bread with peanut butter or wash your hands in peanut soap just remember George Washington Carver.