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birth
Carver's exact birth date is unknown -
early years
He was born during the Civil War years A week after his birth, George was kidnapped along with his sister and mother from the Carver farm by raiders from the neighboring Susan Carver taught George to read and write, since no local school would accept black students at the time. of Arkansas. -
college
In 1890, he began studying art and music at Simpson College in Iowa, developing his painting and drawing skills through sketches of botanical samples. His obvious aptitude for drawing the natural world prompted a teacher to suggest that Carver enroll in the botany program at the Iowa State Agricultural College. -
Tuskegee's agricultural department
Areas of research and training included methods of crop rotation and the development of alternative cash crops for farmers in areas heavily planted with cotton. This work helped struggling sharecroppers in the South, many of them former slaves now faced with necessary cultivation under harsh conditions including the devastation of the boll weevil in 1892 -
after college
After graduating from Iowa State, Carver embarked on a career of teaching and research. Booker T. Washington, the principal of the African-American Tuskegee Institute, hired Carver to run the school's agricultural department in 1896. Washington lured the promising young botanist to the institute with a hefty salary and the promise of two rooms on campus, while most faculty members lived with a roommate. Carver's special status stemmed from his accomplishments and reputation -
member of british royal society
In 1916, he was made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts—a rare honor for an American -
carvers work at tuskegee
Carver's work at Tuskegee included groundbreaking research on plant biology that brought him to national prominence. Many of these early experiments focused on the development of new uses for crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pecans. The hundreds of products he invented included plastics, paints, dyes and even a kind of gasoline. In 1920, Carver delivered a speech before the Peanut Growers Association, attesting to the wide potential of peanuts. -
carvers testimony
The following year, he testified before Congress in support of a tariff on imported peanuts. With the help of Carver's testimony, Congress passed the tariff in 1922. -
death
George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943, at the age of 78 after falling down the stairs at his home.