Science Spotlights

George Washington Carver

Carver was an American educator, scientist, and inventor. He was born into slavery around January of 1964 in Diamond, Missouri. The exact date of his birth is not known. Carver was instrumental in developing products that were alternate crops to cotton such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. He also developed over 100 products, these products included dyes, paints, cosmetics, and gasoline. Carver developed techniques to replenish soil that had been depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. In 1896 Booker T. Washington invited Carter to head the Agricultural Department at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now known as Tuskegee University. Carver taught there for over 47 years. Carver received numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments, including the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1923. In 1941 Time Magazine described him as a "Black Leonardo". That same year the Tuskegee Institute dedicated the George Washington Carver Museum. Carter died on January 5, 1943, at the age of 78.