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 George Washington Carver
Carver was born into slavery in Missouri around 1864. When he was an infant, "night riders" stole him and his mother from the plantation. The owner of the plantation gave the kidnappers a $300 racehorse to get baby Carver back. The plantation owners raised Carver from then on. It was on the plantation that Carver learned how to read, write and spell because schools in his hometown did not accept African-Americans. He also grew into a true nature lover, and would spend hours collecting plants and rocks. He became known as the "plant doctor" because neighbors would come to him for help with their ailing plants. At age 10, Carver left home to attend school. He worked as a farmhand and studied in a one-room schoolhouse until he completed grade school. He then went on to graduate from Minneapolis High School in Kansas. At age 30, Carver gained entrance into Simpson College in Iowa, becoming the first African-American student there. Because of the college's limited offerings, he studied art and music. Intent on studying science, he transferred to Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University), again, as the first African-American student. After receiving a master's degree in bacterial botany and agriculture, he began teaching there, becoming the first African-American faculty member. He taught what was then called "Chemurgy," a science that creates industrial products out of agriculture. In 1897, Carver accepted a job from Booker T. Washington as the Director of Agriculture at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. He worked there until his death in 1943 and willed his life savings to the school. Carver used his education and his proficiency with plants to help revive the farming industry. The two cash crops, cotton and tobacco, were draining the soil of its nutrients. Carver discovered that peanuts would survive and produce plentiful crops. He found that growing peanuts and other plants would improve the decimated soil because of their nitrogen-rich properties. This allowed farmers to continue to grow cotton, but what to do with all those peanuts? Some of the uses Carver found for them include shampoo, instant coffee, axle grease, ink, laundry soap, and adhesives. By 1938, peanut products had grown to become a $200 million industry. Another way Carver revolutionized farming was in developing crop rotation. Alternating cash crops with nutrient-producing crops allowed farmers to continuously make money. He also started a traveling school, where he visited farms and taught the owners how to make their land profitable. Of all of his discoveries, Carver patented only three. All three used the agriculture of the South to make textile dyes, which were previously imported from Europe. Carver's purpose was to help others and not to make a profit. He believed his ideas should be free for everyone, and he kept his formulas simple so anyone could use them. Carver's many achievements prove that great ideas are more powerful than adversity. He took ordinary things and turned them into something extraordinary. Many of the products already existed; he just found new uses for the materials available to him — much like in an Odyssey of the Mind problem! And, in true Odyssey spirit, Carver believed in the importance of creativity. He once said, "Since new developments are the products of a creative mind, we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible." |