George Washington Carver
The scientist who changed the soil.
George Washington Carver was a black agricultural scientist who promoted alternate crops and introduced methods to prevent soil depletion from over cultivation of cotton plants.
During his lifetime, he became an influential scientist who dedicated his whole career to making life easier for farmers, while also promoting environmentalism.
He died on January 5, 1943.
George was borned near Diamond Grove, Missouri, US. Son of an enslaved woman named Mary, owned by Moses Carver.
During the turbulence of the Civil War, the Carver's farm was raided and George and his mother were kidnapped and taken to Arkansas to be sold.
George leaves the Moses farm to acquire an education, traveling 8 miles (~13 kilometers) to the county seat of Neosho, Missouri. There, he found a space to live, with Mariah and Andrew Watkins, an African American couple.
He briefly attended a school for black children, but quickly moved beyond the basics that the school offered.
George spent most of his spare time developing his interest in plants and animals.
Susan Carver - wife of George's former owner - and Mariah Watkins had taught him knowledge of gardening and medical herbs.
He had obtained a highschool education in Minneapolis, Kansas, while working as a farmhand.
Afterwards, he applied and was accepted to Highland College in Kansas, but when he showed up, they refused to admit him because he was black.
He continued to travel through the country, seeking education, until he landed in Iowa, where he met the Milhollands, a white couple.
The couple friended George and urged him to enroll in nearby Simpson College in Indianola.
George studied music and art at the Simpson College before transferring to Iowa State Agriculture College.
(later becoming Iowa State University)
There, he received a bachelor's degree in agriculture science in 1894, later a Master of Science degree in 1896.
After George graduated, Booker T. Washington, the first principal and the president of the Tuskegee Institution, (later Tuskegee University) invited George to teach there at the Agriculture Department.
In the 47 years he taught there, he taught types of methods of crop rotation, including introducing several other cash crops that would make extra money for the farmers while also healing the soil from the heavy cultivation.
He also designed a mobile classroom to take education to farmers in the fields.
After his start at the Tuskegee Institution, he soon proved himself to be a poor administrator, clashing with other members and complaining about physical work and letter-writing.
In 1904, an Institution committee reported that George’s reports on yields were exaggerated, so Washington confronted him about this problem. George then threatened Washington with resignations.
In the last five years of Washington working at the institution, George continued to threaten him with resignations when something didn't go his way.
Ultimately, George still proved himself to be a great scientist and he had worked on numerous crops, finding new uses for them and also improving existing ones.