George Washington Carver was born a slave during the Civil War, possibly around the date of JULY 12, 1865, but there are no records.
Within a few weeks, his father, who belonged to the next farm over, was killed in a log hauling accident.
Shortly after the Civil War, while still an infant, bushwhackers from the Democrat South kidnapped George, along with his mother and sister.
Moses Carver, a German immigrant, sent friends to track down the thieves and offer to trade his best horse to retrieve them.
Told to leave the horse and comeback later, the thieves only left baby George lying on the ground, sick with the whooping cough, an illness which permanently effected his physical constitution.
George never saw his mother and sister again.
Illness claimed the lives of his two other sisters and they were buried on the old Carver farm.
George and his older brother, Jim, were raised the farm in Diamond Grove, Missouri, by "Uncle" Moses and "Aunt" Sue Carver, who were childless.
Jim died of smallpox, and George suffered from poor health as a child.
George stayed near the house helping with chores, learning to cook, clean, sew, mend and wash laundry, skills that he would later use to support himself.
His recreation was to spend time in the woods.
The Carvers supported George's decision to leave home to attend school in Neosho, Missouri.
He paid his own tuition by doing odd jobs. He wrote in A Brief Sketch of My Life, 1922:
"I would never allow anyone to give me money, no difference how badly I needed it. I wanted literally to earn my living."
In the intervening years, George Carver worked his way through grade school and high school, cooking and doing laundry, drifting from Missouri to Kansas in 1878.
As a young man, George homesteaded in western Kansas in the 1880s.
He traveled to Iowa where he studied art at Simpson College.
One of his paintings received an honorable mention in the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.
He transferred to Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree.
Iowa State them hired him as staff to be a teacher.
In the Spring of 1896, George Washington Carver received an invitation to join the staff of the Tuskegee Institute.
Booker T. Washington sent the letter to Carver:
"Tuskegee Institute seeks to provide education -- a means for survival to those who attend.
Our students are poor, often starving. They travel miles of torn roads, across years of poverty.
We teach them to read and write, but words cannot fill stomachs. They need to learn how to plant and harvest crops ...
I cannot offer you money, position or fame. The first two you have. The last, from the place you now occupy, you will no doubt achieve. These things I now ask you to give up.
I offer you in their place work -- hard, hard work -- the challenge of bringing people from degradation, poverty and waste to full manhood."
On May 16, 1896, George W. Carver responded to Booker T. Washington:
"My dear Sir, I am just in receipt of yours of the 13th inst., and hasten to reply.
I am looking forward to a very busy, pleasant and profitable time at your college and shall be glad to cooperate with you in doing all I can through Christ who strengtheneth me to better the condition of our people.
Some months ago I read your stirring address delivered at Chicago and I said amen to all you said, furthermore you have the correct solution to the 'race problem' ...
Providence permitting, I will be there in November. God bless you and your work, Geo. W. Carver."
Booker T. Washington's solution of the "race problem" was to gain respect through economic independence - the path taken by every new wave of immigrants, ie., German, Irish, Jewish, Polish, Italian, Asian, and others.
Immigrants arrived on the shores of America at the bottom of the social ladder, and were often met with racial discrimination.
They lived in poor neighborhoods, worked hard, got educated, started businesses, and pooled their resources.
As they gradually accumulated wealth and made positive contributions to society, they rose in public respect.
Booker T. Washington stated:
"At the bottom ... there must be for our race, as for all races ... economic prosperity, economic independence ...
Political independence disappears without economic independence."
He recommended they "... concentrate all their energies on industrial education, and accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South."
He wrote:
“I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed.”
“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”
Frederick Douglass expressed a similar thought in 1859:
"Self-made men ... are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education; who are what they are, without the aid of any of the favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results ...
The man who will get up will be helped up; and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down ... Give the Negro fair play and let him alone ...
Where circumstances do most for men there man will do least for himself ... His doing makes or unmakes him ...
My theory of self-made men is, then, simply this; that they are men of work ... Honest labor faithfully, steadily and persistently pursued, is the best, if not the only, explanation of their success."
In the fall of 1896, George Washington Carver surprised the staff by announcing his plans to give up his promising future there and join the staff of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
The staff at Iowa State showed Carver their appreciation by purchasing him a going away present -- a microscope, which he used extensively throughout his career.
At Tuskegee, George assembled an Agricultural Department.
He visited nearby farmers and would teach them farming techniques, such as crop rotation, fertilization, and erosion prevention.
He noticed that the soil was depleted due to years of repeated cotton growth and produced very poorly.
During this time, an insect called the boll weevil swept through the South, destroying cotton crops and leaving farmers devastated.
George showed the farmers the benefits of planting legumes, such as peanuts, which replenish the soil with nitrogen.
Farmers heeded Carver's advice but soon had more peanuts than the market wanted, as peanuts were primarily used as animal feed.
George determined to increase the market for peanuts by discovering and popularizing hundreds of uses for them, which helped to revolutionize the South's economy.
He did the same for the soybean, sweet potato, pecan, cowpea, wild plum, and okra.
A partial list of items derived from peanuts was compiled by the Carver Museum at Tuskegee:
- BEVERAGES: blackberry punch, cherry punch, lemon punch, orange punch, peanut punch, beverage for ice cream, evaporated peanut beverage; dry coffee, instant coffee, 32 different kinds of milk, dehydrated milk flakes, buttermilk.
- FOODS: peanut butter, salted peanuts, peanut flour, peanut flakes, peanut meal, cream from peanut milk, butter from peanut milk, egg yolk, breakfast food, bisque powder, cheese, cream cheese, cheese pimento, cheese sandwich, cheese tutti frutti, cocoa, crystallized peanuts, curds, granulated potatoes, potato nibs, golden nuts, mock coconut, pancake flour, peanut hearts, peanut surprise, peanut wafers, pickle, sweet pickle, shredded peanuts, substitute asparagus.
George credited Divine Inspiration for giving him ideas regarding how to perform experiments.
In the summer of 1920, the Young Men's Christian Association of Blue Ridge, North Carolina, invited Professor Carver to speak at their summer school for the southern states.
Dr. Willis D. Weatherford, President of Blue Ridge, introduced him as the speaker.
With his high voice surprising the audience, Dr. Carver exclaimed humorously:
"I always look forward to introductions as opportunities to learn something about myself ..."
He continued:
"Years ago I went into my laboratory and said, 'Dear Mr. Creator, please tell me what the universe was made for?'
The Great Creator answered, 'You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask for something more your size, little man.'
Then I asked, 'Please, Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for.'
Again the Great Creator replied, 'You are still asking too much. Cut down on the extent and improve the intent.'
... So then I asked, 'Please, Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?'
'That's better, but even then it's infinite. What do you want to know about the peanut?'
'Mr. Creator, can I make milk out of the peanut?'
'What kind of milk do you want? Good Jersey milk or just plain boarding house milk?'
'Good Jersey milk.'
And then the Great Creator taught me to take the peanut apart and put it together again. And out of the process have come forth all these products!"
Among the numerous products displayed was a bottle of good Jersey milk. Three and-a-half ounces of peanuts produced one pint of rich milk or one quart of raw "skim" milk, called boarding house "blue john" milk.
On January 21, 1921, Carver addressed the United States House Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the United Peanut Growers Association on the use of peanuts to improve Southern economy.
George expounded on the many potential uses of the peanut as a means to improve the Southern economy.
Initially given only ten minutes to speak, George Carver so enthralled the committee that the Chairman said, "Go ahead Brother. Your time is unlimited!"
He spoke for one hour and forty-five minutes, explaining the many food products that could be derived from peanuts:
"If you go to the first chapter of Genesis, we can interpret very clearly, I think, what God intended when he said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed. To you it shall be meat.'
This is what He means about it. It shall be meat. There is everything there to strengthen and nourish and keep the body alive and healthy."
The Committee Chairman asked Carver:
"Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?"
Carver answered, "From an old book."
"What book?" asked the Chairman.
Carver replied, "The Bible."
The Chairman inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?"
"No, Sir" Carver replied, "But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did."
On November 19, 1924, Carver spoke to over 500 people at the Women's Board of Domestic Missions:
"God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory.
The thing I am to do and the way are revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new.
Without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless. Only alone can I draw close enough to God to discover His secrets."
The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:25-27:
"The mystery that was hidden for ages ... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
On July 10, 1924, George Washington Carver wrote to James Hardwick:
"God cannot use you as He wishes until you come into the fullness of His Glory.
Do not get alarmed, my friend, when doubts creep in. That is old Satan. Pray, pray, pray.
Oh, my friend, I am praying that God will come in and rid you entirely of self so you can go out after souls right, or rather have souls seek the Christ in you.
This is my prayer for you always."
Though from a disadvantaged background, George did not let this pull him down into self-pity, bitterness, or yielding to a hateful victim-hood mentality.
George Washington Carver wrote to Jack Boyd, a YMCA official in Denver, Colorado, March 1, 1927:
"My beloved friend, keep your hand in that of the Master, walk daily by His side, so that you may lead others into the realms of true happiness,
where a religion of hate, (which poisons both body and soul) will be unknown,
having in its place the 'Golden Rule' way, which is the 'Jesus Way' of life, will reign supreme ...
Then, we can walk and talk with Jesus momentarily, because we will be attuned to His will and wishes, thus making the Creation story of the world nondebatable as to its reality."
The "Golden Rule" was taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31):
"In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the prophets."
Carver continued:
"God, my beloved friend, is infinite, the highest embodiment of love.
We are finite, surrounded and often filled with hate.
We can only understand the infinite as we loose the finite and take on the infinite.
My dear friend, my friendship to you cannot possibly mean what yours does to me ... You help me to see God through another angle ...
Most sincerely yours, G.W. Carver."
On March 24, 1925, Carver wrote to Robert Johnson, an employee of Chesley Enterprises of Ontario:
"Thank God I love humanity; complexion doesn't interest me one single bit."
Booker T. Washington expressed a similar attitude:
"The man is unwise who does not cultivate in every manly way the friendship and goodwill of his next-door neighbor, whether he be black or white."
“Great men cultivate love and only little men cherish a spirit of hatred."
Jesus taught:
"Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use";
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Paul taught in Romans 12:
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil ... Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. (Deut. 32:35)
On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' (Prov. 25:21,22) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
Booker T. Washington wrote in Up From Slavery (1901):
"It is now long ago that I learned this lesson from General Samuel Chapman Armstrong,
and resolved that I would permit no man, no matter what his color might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
With God's help, I believe that I have completely rid myself of any ill feeling toward the Southern white man for any wrong that he may have inflicted upon my race.
I am made to feel just as happy now when I am rendering service to Southern white men as when the service is rendered to a member of my own race.
I pity from the bottom of my heart any individual who is so unfortunate as to get into the habit of holding race prejudice."
Ezekiel 18:20 states:
“The son shall not be punished for his father’s sins."
In 1939, George Washington Carver was awarded the Roosevelt Medal, with the declaration:
"To a scientist humbly seeking the guidance of God and a liberator to men of the white race as well as the black."
In 1943, Senator Harry S Truman sponsored the bill to designate Carver's birthplace as a National Monument -- the first national monument dedicated to an African American.
In 1948 and 1998, the U.S. Post Office issued postage stamps honoring George W. Carver.
In 1951, George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington had their image place on a half-dollar.
George Washington Carver addressed Congress and met with Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin Roosevelt.
He was offered jobs by Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, and received correspondence from business and world leaders, including Harvey Kellogg, Gandhi and Stalin.
He died JANUARY 5, 1943.
Booker T. Washington stated:
“The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least.”
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
“There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
In 1928, Dr. George Washington Carver worded that sentiment in a spiritual light:
"Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill ...
With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum ...
Then the passage, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,' came to have real meaning."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate.
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Image Credits: Public Domain; Description: George Washington Carver with fellow staff members at the Tuskegee Institute located in Alabama; Date: 1902; Source: This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division
under the digital ID ppmsca.05633; Author: Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952); https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington_Carver,_ca._1902.jpg
under the digital ID ppmsca.05633; Author: Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952); https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington_Carver,_ca._1902.jpg
Awesome revelatory story that is profound, do you have books on these two men of so extraordinary significants!!!
As always great men and women walk with GOD