Ecosystem Investigation: George Washington Carver Garden

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Investigate Dr. George Washington Carver

Dr. George Washington Carver was a renowned inventor, agronomist (scientist who focused on agriculture) and conservationist who provided advice about crop rotations and other sustainable farming practices to struggling rural farmers in Alabama.

You can grow peanuts or sweet potatoes in your outdoor classroom as Dr. Carver did for his experiments and inventions.

Read the information below to learn about Dr. Carver's impact on Alabama's agriculture.

Who was Dr. George Washington Carver?
Born: 1865 Died: 1943 Scientist and inventor. Known for work using peanuts and sweet potatoes. Used creativity and love of nature to improve farming. Known as "the farmer's best friend" because his ideas and inventions helped farmers have a better quality of life. Felt his ideas should be shared with everyone freely. His goal was to help everyone. “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” – Quote on George Washington Carver's grave

Early Life

George, his mother (Mary), and his sister were all slaves owned by Moses Carver. George was known as "Carver's George". When he was about 1 week old, he and his family were kidnapped by slave raiders. Moses and his wife searched for them but only found George. In 1865, the 13^th Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States. Moses and Susan raised George and his brothers as their own children. George learned to read, write, sew, cook, and make herbal medicines. He showed a lot of interest in plants. Local farmers called him "the plant doctor". He would help them with their fields and gardens.	16-year-old Carver Free Library of Philadelphia

Education

At age 11, George left the farm and began traveling around the Midwest attending schools to get the best education he could.
He began going by the name George Carver.
After high school, he planned to study art and piano in hopes of earning a teaching degree.
Because of his interest in plants and flowers, one of his professors encouraged him to apply to the Iowa State Agricultural School (now Iowa State University) to study botany (the study of plants).
He became the first African American at the university.
In 1894, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree.
In 1896, he earned his Master of Agriculture degree.

Career

He took a teaching position at Iowa State Agricultural School. Booker T. Washington, the famous African American educator, offered him a position at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. He ran the agricultural school where he shared knowledge of food and natural resources. He did research, taught, and managed the school's farms. He taught many black students about farming techniques to support themselves. George Washington Carver wanted to help his students to grow to be good people!	Booker T Washington
Eventually he only taught summer school – a change he was happy to accept because it gave him more time to research and experiment. He taught at Tuskegee for the rest of his life. To see a timeline of his achievements, CLICK HERE!

George Washington Carver's 8 virtues to strive toward:

1. Be clean both inside and out.
2. Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children, and other people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Legacy

Crop Rotation:
The problem: many farmers failed to produce enough cotton, and growing cotton was pulling nutrients from the soil.
The solution: crop rotation Crops such as peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes can restore nutrients to the soil. Planting these crops in between seasons of cotton would help the farmers keep their land fertile (capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops) and increase the amount of cotton they could produce.	Crop Rotation Angelo Troiano, IT
Extra crops: planting these crops meant there were lots of peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans that farmers needed to find uses for!

Sweet Potatoes:	Carver Experimenting in Lab National Agricultural Library – USDA
Carver developed 118 products from sweet potatoes, including the ones listed below. Edible uses: flour and vinegar Non-food uses: stains, dyes, paints, and writing ink To read a complete list of products he developed using sweet potatoes, CLICK HERE!

Peanuts:
Carver developed 300 products from peanuts, including the ones listed below. Edible uses: milk, punches, and cooking and salad oils
Non-food uses: paper, cosmetics, soaps, and medicines
To read a complete list of products he developed using peanuts, CLICK HERE!

Carver's Other Ideas:
He also developed products for the commonly-grown pecan as well as uses for old corn stalks. He taught poor farmers to feed acorns to their hogs because this was cheaper for them than store-bought feed. He taught farmers to enrich their croplands with organic swamp muck because this was cheaper than store bought fertilizer.

Inventions and Ideas:
Many of George Washington Carver's ideas were used by the U.S. Military during World War I. George Washington Carver declined a high paying position offered to him by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Carver created the Jesup wagon – a horse-drawn mobile classroom and laboratory used to educate farmers. He became known as “The Peanut Man” in 1921.	The Jesup Agricultural Wagon ACES
He convinced the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to give tarrif protection (increasing the price of an imported product so that more people buy that same product that is produced in the USA) to the peanut which helped protect the American peanut farmers from competition.

Outreach:
Throughout his life, up until the year of his death, he released bulletins for the public about topics including: Research findings Cultivation information for farmers Science for teachers Recipes for housewives He also published articles in peanut industry journals and wrote a newspaper column, “Professor Carver’s Advice”.

After Death:
He died on January 5, 1943 and was buried on the Tuskegee Institute grounds. Soon after, George received his own monument in his hometown of Diamond, Missouri. He was the first African American and first non-president to receive this honor. He was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame after his death.	Carver Bust at National Monument Wikimedia – Cbmueller17

Peanuts in Alabama

Peanuts are in the legume, or pea, family. Its seeds form in a pod, or shell.
Alabama is one of the top peanut-producing states in the country. Peanuts are farmed on 160,000 acres in Alabama. They are mostly farmed along the Gulf Coast where the soil is sandy, well-drained and chalky.	Peanut Plant Growth Dreamstime Click image to enlarge it
Roughly 400 million pounds of peanuts are harvested annually. This generates more than $200 million per year. To read all about peanuts in Alabama, CLICK HERE.

Cotton in Alabama

Cotton is in the mallow family and is related to the hibiscus – a common plant in gardens. Flowers grow along branches which eventually fall off and expose a green pod. That pod is where the boll, the round fluffy part that we are familiar with, will emerge. Of the 17 states that produce cotton, Alabama ranks about 7^th for most produced. As of 2017, 343,000 acres, each producing about 930 pounds of cotton, were harvested.	Cotton Plant

Cotton parts and uses: Lint (the puffy white part) Used in fabrics Linter – the fuzz left on the cotton seed after removing the lint Used in explosives Upholstery Writing paper U.S. currency Film Seed Cooking oils Cosmetics Soaps Seed husk Fertilizer Livestock feed To read all about cotton in Alabama, CLICK HERE.	Cotton Plant

Sources

History		Encylclopedia of Alabama (1) Encylclopedia of Alabama (2)
Kiddle

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Who was GWC?

Early Life

Education

Career

Legacy

Peanuts in Alabama

Cotton in Alabama