Who was George Washington Carver?

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Who was George Washington Carver?
A suggested unit of instruction for CTAE programs
to help celebrate Black History Month

• 1864 1943

Written by Dallas Duncan and Dr. Frank B.
Flanders Foundation Skills, Unit 10.8, FS-10 2010
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Why Study George Washington Carver?

• George Washington Carver was a great scientist
  and teacher. He was a master of the applied
  sciences.
• He is a great role model for Career, Technical,
  and Agricultural Education students who aspire to
  influence their areas of expertise, as Carver did
  in his field.
• It is suggested that CTAE classes use the study
  of George Washington Carvers life and
  contributions to help celebrate Black History
  Month.

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Objectives Students will be able to

• Explain the adversity George Washington Carver
  faced in his lifetime
• Discuss the early life and childhood of George
  Washington Carver
• Outline the basics of George Washington Carvers
  education
• List products invented or improved by George
  Washington Carver
• Discuss George Washington Carvers teaching
  philosophy
• List honors and awards George Washington Carver
  received during his lifetime

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Childhood
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Born into Slavery

• Born around 1864 in Diamond Grove, Missouri
• George Washington Carver, his brother Jim, and
  his mother, Mary, were slaves
• Owners were Moses and Susan Carver
• George and Mary were kidnapped and taken to
  Arkansas George was returned but Mary was never
  seen again

Above Carvers birthplace, now part of the
George Washington Carver National Historic Site
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Life in Diamond Grove

• George and Jim were raised by Susan and Moses
• Spent a lot of time out in the woods cultivating
  and doctoring plants
• George was sickly and spent time with Susan, who
  taught him womanly skills
• George and Jim started at a white school because
  there werent enough African American children to
  warrant a separate school in the town

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The College Years
Left to Right Simpson College and an early
photograph of Iowa State Agricultural College
8
EducationallySpeaking
Left The Creamery operators at Iowa State
Agricultural College Carver is in the back row

• George left Missouri at an early age to start a
  college career
• 1890 George enrolled at Simpson College to study
  piano and art, but had to withdraw because of his
  race
• Transferred to Iowa State Agricultural College,
  where in 1894 he earned a Bachelors in
  Agriculture
• 1896 Earned a Masters of Agriculture degree
  from Iowa State Agricultural College

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Self-Sufficiency
Left to Right Painting was one way George
Washington Carver helped pay for his education

• There were no real scholarships when George went
  to college, so he had to pay his own way through
  school
• George worked doing laundry, cooking, and selling
  artwork to pay for college
• He was such a good artist, one of his paintings
  won Honorable Mention at the 1893 Chicago Worlds
  Fair

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Teaching the Next Generation of Agriculturalists
Left Faculty at Tuskegee Institute, 1902. George
Washington Carver is front and center.
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Agricultural Educator by Choice

• 1894 Joined the faculty of Iowa State
  Agricultural College
• 1896 Recruited by Booker T. Washington to become
  the director of agriculture at both the Tuskegee
  Institute and the Tuskegee Agricultural
  Experiment Station
• Carver turned down a 100,000 job offer from
  Thomas Edison to go work at Tuskegee
• 1906 George and his students created the Jessup
  Wagon, which was driven around the state to bring
  information and demonstrations to Alabama farmers
• The Jessup Wagon inspired the USDA extension
  service

Above Carver teaches students using skeletons of
a cow and calf Right The Jessup Wagon
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The Blossoming of a Career
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Award-Winning Scientist

• 1916 Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society for
  the Encouragement of the Arts in London
• 1923 Received the Springarn Medal for
  Distinguished Service to Science from the NAACP
• 1939 Received the Roosevelt Medal for
  Outstanding Contribution to Southern Agriculture
• 1941 Received the Award of Merit from the
  Variety Clubs of America

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Cant Stop Learning

• Carver received several degrees after he finished
  college, but he never stopped learning!
• 1928 Received an honorary Doctor of Science
  degree from Simpson College
• 1942 Received an honorary Doctor of Science
  degree from Selma University

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Carver as an Innovator

• Carver created or improved over 400 products in
  his career, many of them derived from the peanut
  and sweet potatoes
• He also made house paints from natural Alabama
  clays, which were used in various institutions in
  his home state

Above Carver working in his lab to extract
peanut milk
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Some of Carvers Innovations
Adhesives Face ointment Mock veal cutlet Rubber
Antiseptic soap Face powder Molasses Rubbing oils
Axle grease Flavoring paste Molasses feed Salad oil
Baby massage cream Flour Mucilage Sandwich vinegar
Bisque powder Fuel briquettes Nitroglycerine Shampoo
Bleach Glue Oleomargarine Shaving cream
Butter from peanut milk Glycerin Paints Shoe polish
Caramel salted peanuts Goiter treatment Pancake flour Sizing for walls
Castoria substitute Hand lotion Paper Soap
Cheese Ink Pavement Soil conditioner
Cheese pimento Insecticide Peanut brittle Stains
Chili sauce Instant coffee Peanut butter Sugar
Chocolate coated peanuts Insulating boards Peanut candy bars Sweeping compound
Chop suey sauce Iron tonic Peanut hay meal Synthetic marble
Cleanser for hands Laundry soap Peanut koumiss beverage Synthetic rubber
Cooking oil Laxatives Peanut meat loaf Talcum powder
Cosmetics Linoleum Peanut oil Tannic acid
Dyes Mayonnaise Peanut relish Tofu sauce
Emulsion for bronchitis Meal substitutes Peanut wafers Tutti frutti
Evaporated peanut beverage Meat tenderizer Plastics Washing powder
Face bleach Medicine Pomade for scalp Wood filler
Face cream Metal polish Pomade for skin Wood stain
Face lotion Mock chicken Postage stamp glue Worcestershire sauce
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Carvers Lasting Legacy
Left to Right Bust of George Washington Carver
at Tuskegee University Entrance to George
Washington Carver National Monument US Postage
stamp honoring Carver
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Contributions Outside the Lab

• 1921 Elected to appear and speak on behalf of
  the United Peanut Association at the US House
  Committee on Ways and Means meeting about the
  peanut tariff
• 1935 Appointed as collaborator of the Mycology
  and Plant Disease Survey for the USDA Bureau of
  Plant Industry
• 1939 Became an honorary member of the American
  Inventors Society

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Permanent Reminders

• 1937 Tuskegee unveiled a bust of George
  Washington Carver
• 1938 Hollywood released a movie based on
  Georges life
• 1941 The George Washington Carver Museum was
  dedicated at Tuskegee
• 1942 Missouris governor placed a marker at
  Georges birthplace