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George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was
an important African-American scientist and inventor. He was
born into slavery during the Civil War. Though the Civil War
ended slavery, most blacks received little or no schooling during
this time. Through sheer determination, Carver managed to
earn an advanced college degree in botany, the study of
plants. He believed education is "the key to unlock the
golden door of freedom." Carver went to Alabama to
teach botany and modern farming techniques to other
African-Americans.
Carver found the soil in
Alabama and other parts of the South had been ruined by growing
cotton for many years. Cotton takes many nutrients from the
soil without giving anything back. Carver told the farmers
that in addition to cotton they must also grow plants such as sweet potatoes and peanuts, which restore nutrients to the
soil. Farmers took Carver's advice and found it worked!
Farmers soon produced more
sweet potatoes and peanuts than people were willing to buy.
Therefore Carver went back to work in the laboratory. There
he developed hundreds of products that could be made from the
sweet potato and the peanut. Some of these products were
plastics, dyes, flour, powdered milk, fertilizer, and
medicines. One of his most successful inventions was peanut
butter!
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