The Life Of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was born near present day Diamond Missouri on about July 12 1865 under slavery. The name of his slave owner was Moses Carver. Moses Carver was a German American immigrant. He had, with his own money purchased Mary and Giles from another slave owner named William P. McGinnis. Giles was George’s father and Mary was George’s mother. They were purchased for 700 dollars. Once, by raiders, one of his sisters, George, and his mother were kidnapped by night, this was a common practice. Carver was found by a man named John Bentley close to death and with out parents for his mother and sisters had already died. Ten of Carver’s brothers and sisters had died prematurely. After slaver was soon abolished his owner Moses and Moses’ wife Susan took George and James (George’s brother) on as children. The basics of reading and writing were taught to George by Susan who, by George was called Aunt Susan. George Carver’s “new parents” greatly encouraged him to follow his pursuits in intellect. In Diamond, Missouri there was no school for blacks so his family went 10 miles to bring him to a school for blacks which was south of Neosho, Missouri. George later met a lady named Mariah Watkins in the Town which his school was in. When Mariah asked for his name he told her it was Carver’s George she said that from now on it was George Carver. Previously he had to sleep in a barn nearby the school. George liked Mariah very much for she respected him for who he was. Some thing that really inspired him was a quote from her which was “You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give all your learning back to other people.” From that, George was deeply affected. George relocated to another foster family in Fort Scott, Kansas for the academy there that he wanted to go to. George then left Fort Scott after witnessing the beating death of a black man by a group of white men. Finally he earned his diploma (after moving to several different schools) at Minneapolis High School. After several letters over the next five years to colleges were sent out George was accepted to Highland College in Kansas. They rejected him as soon as they found out that he was an African American. With J.F Beeler George took a wagon to Ness County in Kansas and claimed a homestead there. At his homestead he a greenhouse for scientific purposes where plants and flowers both grew. He also maintained a collection of rocks. Totally on his own he plowed 17 acres of land and planted corn, rice, indian corn, shrubbery, fruit trees, and garden produce. In 1888 George Washington Carver had a 3000 dollar loan out of the Bank of Ness city. George then left the area around of by June. After taking piano and art classes at simpson college his teacher persuaded him to go to the Iowa state Agricultural college to study botany. George had changed his name then to George Washington Carver so no confusion would happen with another student named George Carver. There they accepted him as the first black student and later as their first black member of the faculty. Joe Budd, and Louis Pammel recognized Georges potential. After his undergraduate career they convinced him to stay at Iowa State for his masters. George then graduated in 1896. His work at the station of pathology and mycology that he had gained his respect for, nationally as a botanist. Carver was invited to teach former slaves at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. He accepted the position to lead the Department of agriculture in the school and then stayed their for the next 47 years. George designed the Jesup wagon named after the man Morris Ketchum Jesup. Jesup funded the whole project. The Jesup wagon was designed as a mobile school to educate former slave farmers. They were taught on how to be self- sufficient. Carver's interest was to educate and help Southern farmers that were poor and working with poor soil. George had discovered 300 ways to use the peanut, 118 for the sweet potato. Walking home one day George took a bad fall down a large flight of stairs. A maid had found him unconscious and brought him to the closest hospital. On January 5th 1943 George had passed away at the age of 73 from anemia from his fall. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University.