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George Washington Carver
Carver was born a slave in Missouri. Although is exact birthdate is
unknown it has been narrowed down to July 12, 1861. Carver was only an
infant when his dad was killed an he, his brother and mother were
kidnapped. He was then orphaned and Moses Carver, his owner, bought George
back in exchange for a horse. The horses value was estimated at 300
dollars.
Carvers first schooling took place in a single room school house for black
children. After regular schooling, he enrolled at Highland University. He
had the grade but due to the fact that he was black he was denied. He then
enrolled at Simpson College in Iowa where he worked as a cook to pay of his
tuition. Carver wander to be an artist and he also showed promise as a
painter. His art teacher steered him away from art and encouraged him to
enroll at State Agricultural College in Ames. There he earned his
bachelors degree. He then went to the Ames Experiment Station where he was
employed by Louis Pammel.
In 1896, Carver went to Tuskegee Institute to lead the newly established
department of agriculture.
For the rest of his life, Carver put together a laboratory, made useless
and over-farmed land farmable, and continued research. Much of the land in
the South had been over-farmed. All of the soil's nutrients had been
depleted by the cotton and tobacco plant. Carver improved soil with his
own blend of fertilizers. He also advised farmers to plant peanuts and
sweet potatoes, he told them this would help the soil. So many farmers did
this and were stuck with peanuts and sweet potatoes. So he made over 300
bi-products from plants such as cereal, oils, dyes, and soaps. In addition,
Carver developed a "school on wheels" to teach farmers from Alabama the
essentials for soil enrichment. Carver had experimented with various types
of fertilizers. He grew huge vegetables with these fertilizers. He also
crossed a long stalk and a short stalk of cotton to produce a new plant
known as Carvers Hybrid.
Carvers many achievements made him easily promotable to high salary jobs
but he refused a raise and he stayed with the 1500 dollar annual salary he
started with during his first year of employment.
Carver publicated a total of 44 books and received countless numbers of
awards, metals, and honors. In 1940, the Carver Research Foundation was
formed at Tuskegee. He volunteered almost all of his life savings to this
institute. George Washington Carver died in 1943 at the age of 82.
Congress made January 5th of each year as a day to honor Carver and his
achievements.
Bibliography
1991 Encyclopedia Americana
1995 Microsoft Bookshelf
1994 Academic American Encyclopedia
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