George Washington Carver Posters, Books, Video, Links for Learning
for Classrooms & Homeschoolers

George Washington Carver Print

George Washington Carver
b. c.1865; near Diamond Grove, Missouri
d. 1-5-1943

African American botanist and agricultural educator George Washington Carver developed innovative uses for a variety of agricultural crops such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes and crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil.

George Washington Carver was born on the Moses and Susan Carver farm near Diamond Grove in southwest Missouri. The exact date of birth is disputed, but generally recognized as circa 1864.

Goober, Giclee Print Goober - The most famous African American scientist George Washington Carver invented over 300 uses for the goober, a food crop imported from Africa to feed slaves. In the South, most people know about the word “goober” or “goober peas” as meaning a peanut. The word is of Bantu origin and derives from the Kongo or Kimbund u n-gubn. During the Civil War, both the Blue and the Grey memorialized the peanut. For a marching soldier, the goober was light, tasty and didn't spoil. A song sung by both sides was “Eating Goober Peas”. George Washington Carver George Washington Carver George Washington Carver, National Archive George Washington Carver, National Archive Peanut plant, Photographic Print A neighbor clasps a peanut plant to his chest. • more botany posters Tuskegee Institute Art Print Tuskegee Institute • Alabama posters Geo Washington Carver, Poster George Washington Carver His epitaph reads “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” Geroge Washington Carver, born a slave, achieved an international reputation and became America’s first biotechnologist. Poor health prevented him from performing manual labor, so he read and developed an interest in biology. While teaching at Tuskegee Institute, he found ways to transform the South’s depleted soil into rich, fertile soil. Tobacco and cotton, then the South’s staple crops, stole nutrients from the soil. Travelling by horse-drawn wagon, Carver instructed farmers to rotate their crops and plant peanuts to improve the soil’s quality. The new crop had limited markets, but within a week, Carver devised and developed dozens of uses for the peanut. His research is most responsible for the South’s economic survival. • more Technology's Past posters

George was a frail child and worked in the house rather than the field. The house work allowed him time to wander the woods and become interested in plants. He also had to teach himself to read and write because there were no schools for black children.

He left the Carver farm when he was ten years old so he could work where there were schools that he could attend. George was very good at art and music and he began attending Simpson College in Iowa to study those subjects. One of his teachers saw how good he was at botany and convinced him to transfer to Iowa Agricultural College (later to become Iowa State Univ.) where he earned a BS and a MS degrees. He also became the first African American faculty member there.

In 1896 Booker T. Washington invited Carver to Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama as an instructor and he was on the faculty there until his death.

His work developed 325 products from peanuts, 108 applications for sweet potatoes, and 75 products from pecans, including a substitute for rubber and more that 500 dyes and pigments.

George Washington Carver died Jan 5 1943; his birthplace was declared a National Monument in 1953 and a postage stamp was issued to commemorate his accomplishments in 1948.

Read more about George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver: In His Own Words by George Washington Carver - selection of Carver’s writing reveal the human side of this famous black scientist, as well as the forces that shaped his creative genius.

The Story of George Washington Carver by Eva Moore ages 9-12

A Personal Tour of Tuskegee Institute (How It Was (Minneapolis, Minn.) by Bettye Stroud

and Botany...

Botany in a Day by Thomas J Elpel - Most plant books cover only one or two hundred species, this book includes more than 100 plant familes and over 700 genera, applicable to many thousand species!

Life and Times of the Peanut by Charles Mucicci - a fascinating picture book exploring one of America's most favorite snack foods.

LINKS FOR LEARNING : GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

• George Washington Carver National Monument
• George Washington Carver, Inventors Hall of Fame
• George Washington Carver, ThinkQuest Site
• Legacy of George Washington Carver, Iowa State Univ
• George Washington Carver Coloring & Activity Book, USDA
• George Washington Carver, Wikipedia
• Virginia-Carolina Peanuts Lesson Plans- K-2 & 3-5
• more- Free poster resources list at The Creative Process