George Washington Carver-'The Plant Doctor'

Birth: January 1864 in Diamond Missouri(The exact day and year of his birth are unknown)
Mothers Name: Mary Carver
Fathers Name: Giles Carver( They both were slaves owned by Susan and Moses Carver)
Death: January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama

George Washinging Carver was born around 1864 probabaly on january but, nobody knows for sure. His father Giles Carver and his mother Mary Carver was slave owned by Susan and Moses Carver in Diamond, Missouri.Giles Carver died right before George was born. George and his mother were kidnapped by Confederate (a supporter or soldier of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War) night-raidersand and they taken to the Arkansas. Moses carver paid money for George and bring him back home but his mother was disappeared forever. So Susan and Moses Carver reared George as their own child. It was on the Moses' farm where George first fell in love with nature, where he earned the nickname 'The Plant Doctor' and collected in earnest all manner of rocks and plants.

When he was baby he had a disease called whooping cough. It left him sickly and he couldn't do work hard like the other slaves. His daily task was cooking and sewing. He loved to work in the garden and wanted to get an education. He taught himself to read. When he was 12 yrs old he left home to attend the black school in Neosho, Kansas. There was only one teacher for 75 students in a small room. Other students played in the recess while he studied. He studied at home before and after his daily task. So he knew more than his teacher. Then he spent the next ten years traveling through the Midwest. He studied whatever he could learn. He finally finished school in his early twenties.

He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they found out he was black, they told him he couldn't attend. Then he spent time farming until he had enough money to go to Simpson College in Iowa. When he was 30, he was accepted at a college in Iowa. And in 1894, he became the first black student to graduate from Iowa State University. In 1896, he received his Masters Degree from Iowa State University. At this time George was beginning to be known around the U.S. for the study of fungi and parasites, and also for the study of plants.


Later in 1896, He was invited to work at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He accepted the job and build an agriculture building and laboratory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funded his laboratory in 1897. Carver began working on how to solve the problems the south was having with their fields. When he was came to Tuskegee the peanut had not the recognized as a crop. But later it becames the sixth leading crop in U.S. In 1940 the peanut became second most important crop in the south. He made more than 300 different products from peanut. Products such like wood stain, shampoo, face powder, printer ink, vinegar, soap, coffee, butter, milk, cheese etc. He also made different things from other plants. George also found 118 ways to make industrial materials from the sweet potatoes, like rubber. Also made 500 dyes from various southern plants.

George received many medals and awards for his discoveries in science and agriculture. He was awarded the fellow of the Royal Society of Arts from the scientific body in the Great Britain. He was also awarded by Roosevelt Medal for his service in the science field, Humanitarian award from the variety Club of America,Man of the Year award from the magazine Progressive Farmer. He had received a Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from the university of Rochester.

Later in his life, Thomas Edison offered him $100,000 a year to come and work for him, but he thought he could do more good at Teskegee. One of his major accomplishment was the inventation and promotion of the organic fertilizing methods. Introduction of crop rotation for restoring nutrients to the soil.

He was known as a religious man. He never got married, but he says that he was married to his work. He donated his life saving to the George Washington carver Research Foundation at Teskegee Institute.

In 5th january 1943 george was died. He died from anemia and for being sick for long time. He was appeared on US commemorative stamp in 1948 and 1998, also depited on a commemorative half doller coin from 1951 to 1954. His Monument was build in 1953 near his birth place in Missouri. It was the first federal monument dedicated to a black person.