George Carver
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George Washington Carver (abt. 1864 - 1943)

George Washington Carver
Born about in Diamond, Newton, Missouri, United Statesmap
Brother of
Died at about age 78 in Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama, United Statesmap
Profile last modified | Created 20 Oct 2009
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Biography

Notables Project
George Carver is Notable.
US Black Heritage Project
George Carver was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

George Washington Carver was born on July 12, 1864 in Diamond Grove, Missouri. [1] His exact date of birth is not known. The 1870 U.S. census shows him as 10 years of age. [2]

His parents were slaves on the Moses Carver Plantation. His father died soon before his birth and, while still an infant, he and his mother were kidnapped by slavers. He alone was returned to the plantation. Following the Civil War, George and his brother James, were raised by the Moses Carver family where he was encouraged to gain an education. [3] He possessed a great interest in plants and was very eager to learn more about them. On the plantation is where George first fell in love with plants and Mother Nature. He had his own little garden in the nearby woods where he would talk to the plants. He soon earned the nickname, The Plant Doctor, and was producing his own medicines.

George Washington Carver's innovations with the common peanut earned him the nickname "The Peanut God". But he was not only known for his peanut products. He was also one of the biggest faces of the agriculture uprise in the 20th century. Living during a time of racial inequality caused many hardships for Carver; as not being able to attend his choice of schools, Highland University. He would later attend Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and then Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in which upon graduation he would be offered a position on the school's faculty.

Carver's peanut innovations would be used to feed live stock, make printer ink and cooking oil. Over 300 Peanut based products would be produced by Carver but only 3 would be patented. Booker T. Washington would, later on, recognize Carver's inventions and ask him to join the Tuskegee Institute as the School's director of Agriculture. In 1940 Carver would donate $60,000 of his life savings to the George Washington Carver Foundation and willed the rest of his estate to the organization so his work might be carried on after his death. Three years later, on January 5, 1943[4] he would then pass away on the Tuskegee Institute campus.

1900 Tuskegee Normal Industrial Institute Tuskegee town, Macon, Alabama,
Age 36
Marital Status Single
Race Black
Birth Date Jul 1864
Birthplace Missouri

In 1943, Congress honored him by establishing the George Washington Carver National Monument located at 5646 Carver Road, Diamond, Missouri, USA. The following is an excerpt from the Congressional Hearings:

Occasionally there moves across the stage of time a historic figure, a creative teacher, a profound thinker, a humble servant, or an inspiring teacher. George Washington Carver was all of these. The memorial we create only indicates to the world that once there was a man named George Washington Carver, whose life was a source of inspiration to all men, a pillar of hope to his race, a fountain of service to his fellows, a tower of devotion to his God; and that this man achieved a worthy and enduring stature in the memories of men.[5]

The park was dedicated on 14 July 1953 and was the first park in the national park system to be dedicated to a non-president and an African-American. [6]

In 1948, he US Postal Service issued a 3-cent stamp in his honor. [7]

In 1990, he was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame for his accomplishments. [8]

Sources

  1. United States Census, 1900 [database with images], FamilySearch, George W Carver, Tuskegee Normal Industrial Institute Tuskegee town, Macon, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 4A, family , NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,027.
  2. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M46Y-H7M : 12 April 2016), George Carver in household of James Carver, Missouri, United States; citing p. 24, family 173, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,294.
  3. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M46Y-H7M : 12 April 2016), George Carver in household of Moses Carver, Missouri, United States; citing p. 24, family 173, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,294.
  4. "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ1-BL8Y : 13 December 2015), George Washington Carver, 1943; Burial, Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama, United States of America, Tuskegee University Campus Cemetery; citing record ID 179, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
  5. George Washington Carver National Monument Missouri, National Park Service.(https://www.nps.gov/gwca/learn/historyculture/index.htm)
  6. U.S. Department of the Interior, Blog
  7. George Washington Carver Issue, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
  8. National Inventor's Hall of Fame
  • "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF5C-BBB : 29 August 2017), George Carver in household of Willis Moore, Paola, Miami, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 142, sheet 444C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0389; FHL microfilm 1,254,389. Living as a boarder in Miami Co., Kansas. Is this the right George Carver?
  • "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6XB-DMK : 7 September 2017), Moses Carver, Marion, Newton, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district ED 98, sheet 403B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0705; FHL microfilm 1,254,705. Shows George's brother, James, still living with Moses Carver.
  • "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9DH-C1C : accessed 17 February 2017), George W Carver, Tuskegee Normal Industrial Institute Tuskegee town, Macon, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 4A, family , NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,027.
  • "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/3J7D-C2M : accessed 29 July 2018), George W Carver, Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 2, sheet 5A, line 1, family , NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 36; FHL microfilm 2,339,771.
  • Vella, Christina. George Washington Carver: A Life, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 2015
  • The National Park Service maintains a web site for the George Washington Carver National Monument. "Not Just the Peanut Man"
  • Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th Century, Oryx Press, 1996. Pages 42-46.




Memories: 1
Enter a personal reminiscence or story.
When he was a baby he had a disease called whooping cough. He was so sick form it he couldn’t do other work like the other slaves. His chores were cooking and sewing. But he loved to work in the garden.

He taught himself how to read. His family was so poor that he couldn't afford to buy a pencil so he made a holder and used a pencil that was only 1/4 inch long.

When he was 12 years old he when to a black school. There was 75 kids to 1 teacher in a small room. When it was recess, instead of playing like the other kids he studied. And then he ended up smarter then his teacher. Then he enrolled to a collage by writing them, but then they found out he was black and said he couldn't come.

posted 30 Oct 2009 by Niecee Tucker
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Comments: 2

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This a man named Geroge Washington Carver.he was born in July 12,1865 he was the main person who made peanutbutter.He died on 1943 Tugeskee,Alamba.
posted by desirae gilliam