THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE – THE BLACK SCIENTISTS – George Washington Carver

THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE – THE BLACK SCIENTISTS – George Washington Carver

We live in a westernized world that is monopolized by western ideas. You go through school in Africa where our curriculum is strictly British or American or French. The African creativity is starved because an appreciation of his environment and identity is lacking in it. For instance, look through any nursery school alphabet sheet and A still stands for apple. For 90% of these kids, apple is an exotic fruit. They had never seen what an apple tree looks like. You go through school and study agriculture for a minimum of 12 years or more, and they will never tell you about Tassa or Tai farming method; African’s own knowledge developed by Africans that far outperforms a lot of modern methods. But worse than this is that no one also tells you that even some of the generic agricultural methods like crop rotation that will all know and practice today was also developed by a black man; George Washington Carver.

George Washington Carver was a prominent African-American botanist and inventor. He actively promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, as a source of their own food and to improve their quality of life. Carver is best known for the many uses he devised for the peanut.

George Washington Carver (c. 1864 to January 5, 1943) was born into slavery and went on to become a botanist and one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time as well as a teacher. Carver devised over 100 products using one major crop — the peanut — including dyes, plastics and gasoline etc.

Carver was the son of a slave woman named Mary, owned by Moses Carver. During the American Civil War, the Carver farm was raided, and infant George and his mother were kidnapped and taken to Arkansas to be sold. Moses Carver was eventually able to track down young George but was unable to find Mary. Frail and sick, the motherless child was returned to his master’s home and nursed back to health. The childless Carvers raised him and his brother as their own children. Being a sickly child, George was not required to do hard labor but helped around the house. Very early his intellect and knowledge of nature awed those around him, but he was not allowed to attend the neighborhood school because of his color.  With the complete abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865, George was no longer a slave. Nevertheless, he remained on the Carver plantation until he was about 10 or 12 years old, when he left to acquire an education. He spent some time wandering about, working with his hands and developing his keen interest in plants and animals. He learned to draw, and later in life he devoted considerable time to painting flowers, plants, and landscapes.

In 1888, George enrolled as the first black student at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He began studying art and piano, expecting to earn a teaching degree. Recognizing the unusual attention to detail in his paintings of plants and flowers his instructor, Etta Budd, encouraged him to apply to Iowa State Agricultural School (now Iowa State University) to study Botany.

At Iowa State, Carver was the first African American student to earn his Bachelor of Science in 1894. His professors were so impressed by his work on the fungal infections common to soybean plants that he was asked to remain as part of the faculty to work on his master’s degree (awarded in 1896). Working as director of the Iowa State Experimental Station, Carver discovered two types of fungi, which were subsequently named for him. Carver also began experiments in crop rotation, using soy plantings to replace nitrogen in depleted soil. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science in 1894 and a Master of Science degree in 1896.  Before long, Carver became well known as a leading agricultural scientist.

Carver left Iowa for Alabama in the fall of 1896 to direct the newly organized department of agriculture at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, a school headed by noted African American educator Booker T. Washington. At Tuskegee, Washington was trying to improve the lot of African Americans through education and the acquisition of useful skills rather than through political agitation; he stressed conciliation, compromise, and economic development as the paths for black advancement in American society. Despite many offers elsewhere, Carver would remain at Tuskegee for the rest of his life. He was both a teacher and a prolific researcher, heading up the institute’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

Tuskegee's agricultural department achieved national renown under Carver's leadership, with a curriculum and a faculty that he helped to shape. Areas of research and training included methods of crop rotation and the development of alternative cash crops for farmers in areas heavily planted with cotton. Carver used chemistry and scientific methodology to improve the lives of impoverished farmers in southeastern Alabama, most of whom were former slaves. To that end he conducted soil studies to determine what crops would grow best in the region and found that the local soil was perfect for growing peanuts and sweet potatoes. He also taught farmers about fertilization and crop rotation as methods for increasing soil productivity. The primary crop in the South was cotton, which severely depleted soil nutrients, but by rotating crops—alternating cotton with soil-enriching crops like legumes and sweet potatoes—farmers could ultimately increase their cotton yield for a plot of land. And crop rotation was cheaper than commercial fertilization.

The education of African-American students at Tuskegee contributed directly to the effort of economic stabilization among blacks. In addition to formal education in a traditional classroom setting, Carver pioneered a mobile classroom to bring his lessons to farmers.

Carver went on to become a prominent scientific expert and one of the most famous African-Americans of his time. Carver achieved international fame in political and professional circles. Three American presidents; Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt met with him, and the Crown Prince of Sweden studied with him for three weeks. President Theodore Roosevelt admired his work and sought his advice on agricultural matters in the United States.  Appearing before Congress made him the "Peanut genius." He published 105 food recipes using peanuts alone. He published articles in peanut industry journals and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Professor Carver's Advice". Business leaders came to seek his help, and he often responded with free advice. Besides peanuts, Carver's research also involved clays, seeds, and sweet potatoes.

In January 1921, he addressed the US Congress about peanuts and the need for a tariff. The representatives weren't predisposed to listen to a black man—Carver ended up winning over the committee. They were drawn into testimony that covered many of the products Carver had created with peanuts, such as flour, milk, dyes and cheese, and ended up inviting him to take as much time as he needed to talk.

After his appearance, peanuts and Carver were intertwined in the public's mind. The scientist didn't mind the association; however, when asked in 1938 if his work with peanuts was his best, Carver answered: "No, but it has been featured more than my other work."

Carver went to work to invent new food, industrial, and commercial products—including flour, sugar, vinegar, cosmetic products, paint, and ink—from these “lowly” plants. From peanuts alone he developed hundreds of new products, thus creating a market for this inexpensive, soil-enriching legume.

Carver was also recognized abroad for his scientific expertise. In 1916, he was made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts — a rare honor for an African American. Carver also advised Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi on matters of agriculture and nutrition.

Carver also traveled to schools and other outreach programs to educate farmers. He published popular bulletins that reported on his research at the Agricultural Experiment Station and its applications and distributed to farmers for free.

Throughout his life, Carver's actions demonstrated how little he cared for money. For example, he turned down a six-figure job offer from Thomas Edison. Carver also didn't spend much on clothes (and consequently was always shabbily dressed).

In addition, Carver filed only three patents on the products he'd developed. As he explained, "One reason I never patent my products is that if I did, it would take so much time I would get nothing else done. But mainly I don't want any discoveries to benefit specific favored persons. I think they should be available to all peoples."

George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943, at the age of 78. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the Tuskegee grounds. Carver's epitaph reads: "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."

Carver appeared on U.S. commemorative postal stamps in 1948 and 1998, as well as a commemorative half dollar coin minted between 1951 and 1954. Numerous schools bear his name, as do two United States military vessels. In 2005, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis opened a George Washington Carver garden, which includes a life-size statue of the garden's famous namesake. In addition to the popular honor of being one of the most recognized names in African American history, Carver received the 1923 Spingarn Medal and was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The George Washington Carver National Monument was the first national monument dedicated to a black American and the first to a non-president.

If carver was white, he would have been all over your text books considering the depth of his contribution and achievements to humanity. His place in history is still incomplete because me and you have not risen up to do like he did.

If we did it before, we can do it again!!

KULENGA RENAISSANCE SERIES!!