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George Washington Carver: Part Two

© Mary M. Alward

George applied to Highland University, but was refused entry because he was black. George didn't give up. He continued to apply to universities and colleges. It wasn't until he was 30 that he finally was accepted to Simpson College in Iowa. There, he earned a living by ironing clothes for other students.

After George had been at Simpson for a year, he applied to what is now Iowa State University. He was accepted and graduated in 1896. He was the first black person to graduate from the school. He'd made history. He wrote his thesis on the amaryllis plant.

Since George had excelled in his studies, the university hired him as a teacher. Though he instructed others, he never gave up studying. He continued to focus on plants and soil. He conducted experiments on several types of fungus that were killing wheat, oats, blueberries and maple trees. After two years, he received his Master's Degree.

It was after he had his degree that Booker T. Washington invited him to teach at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which was a college for blacks. He accepted and worked there for the rest of his life.

At Tuskegee, George developed a method to rotate crops. He planted cotton one year and peanuts the next. Did you know that peanuts replenish minerals in the soil? Because the ground was more fertile, the next year's cotton crop produced more. But as time went on, George found he had far too many peanuts on his hands. What could he do with them?

After a lot of thought and experimenting, George came up with over two dozen (24) uses for peanuts. The farmers of the area were happy. They were making more money from peanuts than they were from cotton.

George continued to study. Plant chemistry was one of his many interests. He studied over three hundred uses for peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and clay. He received numerous awards for his work on these projects. It was his goal to find uses for lots of common things. Today, he would be called an inventor. He could also be called a scientist.

George never married. He was more interested in the world, plants and nature than in settling down and raising a family. He believed in God and was very religious. He died on January 5, 1943, at Tuskegee from anemia, which is a blood disorder. In his will, he left $30,000 to science.