GENIUS #3: George Washington Carver
A study on George Washington Carver, thought to be the black "Da Vinci"
Welcome to this edition of GENIUS: a study on the top intellectuals and creatives from modern history. In today’s newsletter, we’re profiling George Washington Carver, an inventor, scientist, agriculturalist, teacher, mentor, and a symbol for black intelligence during a troubled Jim Crow era.
George Washington Carver
1860 - 1943
Background:
George Washington Carver was one of the most renowned black men in US history due to his extensive research, inventions, and teachings. Born a slave, Carver lost both of his parents at a young age. He eventually was raised by white plantation owners that introduced him to plants and gardening.
As a teenager, he moved around the mid-west hoping to further his education. He eventually applied to Simpson College where he was accepted until he showed up to register at the all-white college; at which time, a college official rejected his status based on his black skin. Carver eventually went on to study at Iowa State, becoming the first black man to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1894. After receiving his masters in 1896, he went on to head the Agriculture Department at the esteemed Tuskegee Institute, led by Booker T. Washington, for 47 years.
While at Tuskegee, Carver went on to become one of the nation’s most prolific scientists through his research, mentorship, and inventions.
Some of his biggest accomplishments from this time include:
Architected an education-on-wheels platform via the Jessup wagon to educate rural farmers on modern farming practices. The wagon initiative was so successful that it became a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s official outreach program.
Developed innovative agriculture practices like rotating soil-enriching plants, which increased yields without the use of pesticides. For example, on a one-half acre plot, Carver increased the yield of sweet potatoes in a few years from 40 bushels to 266 bushels. This single practice spared poor, black, Southern farmers from relying on expensive fertilizers and improved their harvest sizes. The latter being extremely important as black farmers post-Civil War were sharecroppers that owed white landowners a sizable portion of crop yields every year. Therefore, Carver was responsible for helping black farmers climb the economic ladder with his discoveries.
Found hundreds of new, nonfood uses for agricultural surpluses as a supporter of the chemurgy movement. He believed if he could invent new products out of an existing crop, black farmers could extract greater economic value from their harvests. From sweet potatoes, he discovered products like flours, starches, sugar, a faux coconut, vinegar, synthetic ginger, chocolate, and such non-foods as stains, dyes, paints, and writing ink. From the peanut, for which Carver is most attached to, he developed close to 300 food, industrial, and commercial products including milk, butter, Worcestershire sauce, various punches, cooking oils, salad oil, medicines, hand lotions, face creams, and powder. In fact, his discovery of peanut oil was touted as an alternative medicine to fight polio.
Issued over 40 agricultural bulletins that served to supply cultivation techniques for farmers, scientific research for teachers, and recipes for housewives.
Gained national acclaim for defending the Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 in front of an all-white Congress. At the time, it was rare to see a black man serve as an expert witness in Congressional hearings. Yet, Carver persevered to successfully defend the American peanut industry and grow to become one of the nation’s most famous figures.
His prominence in American society helped restore black dignity and improve race relations. Whites were impressed by his accomplishments enough to request his mentorship and to write about him in their newspapers. His fame also extended to England and India as he was included within the Royal Society of the Arts as well as an advisor of nutrition to Mahatma Gandhi. Nationally, Carver became such an important figure for the black community who went on to name major institutions in his honor.
What makes him a GENIUS:
Carver defined black excellence at one of the more troubling times in American history. The backdrop of his success came during the Jim Crow era, the Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal) decision, and when the Ku Klux Klan had major societal influence. His triumph from being born a slave to becoming one of this nation’s most prominent scientists, drawing praise from the likes of Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, can chiefly be attributed to his intelligence, work ethic, and curiosity.
Not only did Carver win the favor of esteemed white leaders, but he also directly improved the lives of thousands of poor black farmers and indirectly improved the standing of black men in general. At a time when blacks were considered to be less than human and not intellectually-equivalent to whites, Carver dispelled these notions by becoming such a highly-regarded scientific expert. Furthermore, his scientific research helped discover hundreds of new products, many of which we still rely on to this day.
Quotes / Life Lessons:
“It has always been the one great ideal of my life to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of 'my people' possible and to this end I have been preparing myself these many years; feeling as I do that this line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.”
"It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobiles one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank that counts. These mean nothing. It is simple service that measures success."
Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/11/275330069/george-washington-carver-the-black-history-monthiest-of-them-all
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/carver.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/search-george-washington-carvers-true-legacy-180971538/