George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
is a scientist and inventor best-known for discovering 100 uses for the
peanut, but that's only the tip of the iceberg in his remarkable life.
He was born to slaves on a Missouri farm at the close of the Civil War
and kidnapped by raiders a week later, becoming an orphan in the
process.
Carver's former owners, Moses and Susan Carver,
eventually located and returned Carver to the farm of his birth. In the
years that followed, Susan Carver taught him to read and write because
local schools did not allow black students.
The experience sparked
an interest in lifelong learning. Carver self-directed his way through
high school and conducted biological experiments of his own design.
Eventually, he enrolled in Iowa State Agricultural College's botany
program, where he earned a master's degree -- and a reputation as a
brilliant scientist, teacher and advocate for farmers. He then became an
instructor at the famed Tuskegee Institute, working alongside Booker T.
Washington.
In addition to developing crop rotation methods for
sharecroppers, many of whom were former slaves, Carver designed a
horse-drawn classroom to illustrate his methods firsthand. He also
pioneered a series of practical inventions
that would make farming more profitable and less dependent on cotton,
including more than 100 ways to monetize sweet potatoes, soy beans and
peanuts with a conversion into dyes, plastics and fuel.
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