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| George Washington Carver |
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| Dr. George Washington Carver
An American Hero
"How
far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant
of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been
all of these." --
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Dr. Carver is
known worldwide as a Famous Agricultural Scientist who created more
than 300 Inventions from the Peanut. In 1915, President Roosevelt said:
"There is no more important work than the work that Dr. Carver is
doing."
The following are among Dr. Carver's many inventions:
* The miraculous topical pain reliever, The Rubbing Oil named after his loyal assistant, Dr. A.W. Curtis.
* Invented the compound which mixes with mortar to allow it to stick to bricks
* Saved thousands of lives in the former Belgium Congo with his invention of Peanut Milk
* Made slabs of synthetic marble from sawdust.
* Made wallboard from peanut shells, pine, cones, banana stems, cotton and pecan shells.
* Made steel-like plastic from sweet potatoes as a substitute for steel.
* Created a compound which allows chocolate to stick to peanuts.
* Discovered "Bentonite" in Alabama to de-ink newspapers.
* Extracted 536 dyes from 28 plants which were fade-proof and capable
of permanently dyeing leather, cotton, wool, silk, and linen.
* Invented asphalt rubber from oil sludge
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| George Washington Carver |
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A Little History
George
Washington Carver was born 1864, the son of slaves on the Moses Carver
plantation near Diamond Grove, Missouri. He lost his father when he was
a child, and at the age of six months was stolen, along with his
mother, by raiders. Eventually, he was recovered and traded back to his
owner for a $300 race horse.
After the Civil War and
Reconstruction, Carver enrolled in Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, in
1890, studying music and art. Etta Budd, his art instructor whose
father was head of the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State
College, convinced him to go into scientific agriculture.
He
went to Ames in 1891 where he was active in the YMCA, Welch Eclectic
Society, and the college military regiment. He received his Bachelor of
Science and Master of Science in Agriculture in 1894 and 1896
respectively. Carver was not only the first African American to enroll
as a student at Iowa State, but was also the first Black to join the
faculty. In 1895, he was the assistant botanist in the Experiment
Station and worked there until the following year, when Booker T.
Washington asked him to join the staff at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
At
Tuskegee, Carver organized the Agricultural Department, planned the
first agricultural building, taught classes in chemistry and botany and
conducted research. He served as Director of Agriculture, became the
first Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station and
Head of the Department of Research. His work led to the creation of
many products from peanuts and more than 100 products from sweet
potatoes. He also developed many products for the state of Alabama
among them: clay, cotton, soybeans, pecans, wood shavings, and waste
materials.
During his lifetime, Carver received a multitude of
honors, including honorary degrees from Simpson College, University of
Rochester, and Selma University.
A feature film of his life was
made in Hollywood in 1938. In 1940, he bequeathed his estate to
Tuskegee Institute and established the George Washington Carver
Foundation to continue his work. Carver has been called the father of
chemurgy. A monument to his work has also been created.
Peanut
growing in the United States began in the post-Civil War era, when
Southern farmers, beset by the ravages of the boll weevil, sought a
substitute crop for cotton. As peanut acreage grew, numerous uses for
the plant and its seed were gradually found.
The most famous
researcher into the potential for the peanut crop was George Washington
Carver, whose discoveries helped establish the industry. Major
peanut-growing states are Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and Texas.
The peanut contains about 28 percent protein, 50 percent oil, 18 percent carbohydrates, and 4 percent ash.
Few
agricultural plants have as many potential uses. In the United States,
peanut butter is the most important peanut product. Worldwide, however,
about two-thirds of the peanut crop is crushed for oil, and peanut oil
supplies about 8 percent of the world's edible oil production.
Peanut
products are used in food processing as well as animal feed products
made from the shell and from the residues left after oil pressing.
Plants left in the ground provide excellent forage for cattle and
swine, and are also valuable as a green manure.
*If you are allergic to peanuts, you should not use our products because they are all made from peanut oil.
** These products have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to heal or cure.
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