The Influences On George Washington Carver's Life

George Washington Carver, an African American, was born on a farm in Diamond Grove, Missouri around 1864; however, like many slaves his exact date of birth is unknown. At the age of 79, Carver died on January 5th, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama by falling down the stairs of his home. In Alabama, he decided to add a middle initial to his name, and a friend suggested Washington. His mother, Mary, was a slave who belonged to Susan and Moses Carver, who were the farm owners. Mary had two sons, Jim being the oldest and George the youngest. His father, Giles, was also a slave on a nearby farm, but died before George was born (MacLeod.) Just a few months old, George and his mother were taken by raiders during the civil war era. Moses Carver,
However, it was too expensive, which led George to occasionally leave school and attempt to earn money. George Washington Carver began to work at any job that would earn him money, which included household worker, homesteader, hotel cook, and farm laborer (“George Washington Carver.”) He managed to obtain a high school education, while staying in Minneapolis, Kansas. Then he moved to Kansas City, and he struggled with racism. George Washington Carver decided to apply to Highland College, in Highland, Kansas. He had been accepted to Highland College, but when he arrived he was turned down, because of his color. He remained in Highland, Kansas for three years, to earn money working in homesteading. Poverty was one of the struggles George Washington Carver dealt with, when he moved to Winterset, Iowa. He attended Simpson College, once he heard they had accepted an uAfrican American student, he was the second African American student to attend Simpson College. He studied art, and his paintings were mostly about plants and nature. In 1893, one of George’s paintings received an honorable mention at the World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois. Besides his love for nature, he was influenced to study botany to help African American farmers. Helen, a good friend of his, suggested him to move to Iowa State College, so he transferred. At Iowa State College, he learned about agriculture.
Carver noticed that planting cotton absorbed more nutrients out of the soil. He tried to find an alternative for planting cotton to planting peanuts, and many other crops to improve the soil. In 1920, George was asked to be a guest speaker for the United Peanut Association of America, in order to speak to the U.S. Congress on the variety of uses of peanuts. Carver created gasoline, shampoo, soap, cream, oil, and more, out of peanuts. In addition to this, he also used sweet potatoes to create products, such as flour, paint, ink, glue, shoe blacking, and more, which are all beneficial to today’s society. Carver’s research on peanut oil led to a discovery of fighting a paralyzing disease, poliomyelitis. In 1904, George Washington Carver, along with Booker T. Washington, invented the Jesup Wagon. The Jesup Wagon was seen as a “school wagon” to take Tuskegee to the farmers, for those who couldn’t afford to go to the institute. Soon around 1916, he was asked to join the National Agricultural Society, due to his improvements to southern agriculture, and in 1939 he received an honorable membership in the American Inventors Society. He received much recognition for his selfless acts to help others