George Washington Carver, born Carver, was born into slavery in the year of 1864 in Diamond, Missouri during the Civil War. When the Civil War concluded in 1865, slavery has been abolished however racial injustice was still set in place and black students in Missouri were not allowed to attend local school. Because of this, Carver as well as his brother James were educated at home by their parents. Carver always had a thirst of knowledge which was apparent from a young age; however, this did not change the fact that there was still inequality as he was rejected from Highland College in Highland, Kansas once they learned of his race. This drove him to conduct several biological experiments as well as develop a geological collection. His interest in the nature of the world prompted one of his teachers to suggest that he enroll in the botany program at Iowa State Agricultural College and it was there when he became the first black student at Iowa State and earned a Bachelor of Science degree before moving on to pursue a master’s degree on plant pathology and eventually graduating. After graduating, Carver began to do research and teach and was hired to the agricultural department at the Tuskegee Institute–now known as Tuskegee University–in 1896.
Carver’s work included research on new developmental uses of crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soy beans and pecans. He later went on to be known as “The Peanut Man” after he delivered a speech on the many uses of peanuts to the Peanut Growers Association in 1920. He also testified and supported a tariff on imported peanuts which was then passed by the Congress in 1922. In 1943, Carver passed at the age of 78 in his home and was buried on Tuskegee grounds.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 