George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born during the civil war years on a Missouri farm near Diamond Grove, Newton Country in Marion, Township Missouri. Even Carver himself was uncertain of his own birth date. In early manhood he thought that he was born in the year of 1865. On other occasions Carver noted that his birth came "near the end of the civil war" or "just as freedom was declared ".

Carver was a brilliant man who received a bachelors and a masters degree from Iowa Agriculture College. He became a teacher at Iowa Agricultural College. He was also in charge of the bacterial laboratory work in the Systematic Botany department. Mr. Carver made many advances in agriculture and farm products. He moved to Tuskegee Alabama in 1896 to accept a job as an instructor at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute and remained an instructor there until the day of his death in 1943. His work in developing industrial applications from agricultural products derived 118 products, including a rubber substitute and over 500 dyes and pigments, from 28 different types plants. He was responsible for the invention in 1927 of a process for producing paints and strains from soybeans, for which three separate patents were issued.

George Washington Carver was honored by president Franklin d. Roosevelt on July 14, 1943 dedicating 30,000 dollars for a national monument to be dedicated to his accomplishments. The area were Carver grew up in Missouri was made into a park. This park was the first designated national monument to an African American in the history of the United States. He was given an honorary doctorate from Simpson College in 1923. He was made a member of the royal society of arts in London, England. He received many awards for his great discoveries and products. His greatest award was the Spingarn metal in 1923, which is given away every year by the National Association for the Advancement of colored People. The Spingarn metal is awarded to the black person who has made the greatest contribution to the advancement of his race. Carver died of anemia at Tuskegee Institute on January 5, 1943 and was buried on campus next to Booker T. Washington.

George Washington Carver always thought that his father was a slave who lived on a neighboring farm who was killed in a log-hauling accident