Dare to Hope!
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George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
(1864?-1943)
“When I was young, I said to God, God, tell me the mystery of the universe. But God answered, that knowledge is for me alone. So I said, God, tell me the mystery of the peanut. Then God said, well, George, that’s more nearly your size.”
—George Washington Carver
who developed more than 300 uses for peanuts.
More Online Resources
Official page at Tuskegee University website
Wikipedia Biography and Links
George Washington Carver: Seeds of Faith
George Washington Carver was a former slave who became not only the world’s foremost expert on peanuts and sweet potatoes but also a man of faith in God who sowed hope for progress among struggling Southern farmers after the Civil War.
Carver’s mother Mary was only 13 when she was purchased by a slave master named Moses Carver during the Civil War. She died while George was still a child.
Although he was an orphan and often suffered from poor health, he loved to learn and educated himself at every opportunity. He had a special love for botany and was called “The Plant Doctor” even as a boy. He said later, “My very soul thirsted for an education. I literally lived in the woods. I wanted to know every strange stone, flower, insect, bird, or beast.”
Carver became famous not only for his research but also for his openness about crediting “Mr. Creator” for all of his discoveries. He told a New York City audience, “I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed at the moment I am inspired to create something new. . . . Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”
Carter developed:
George Washington Carver was a former slave who became not only the world’s foremost expert on peanuts and sweet potatoes but also a man of faith in God who sowed hope for progress among struggling Southern farmers after the Civil War.
Carver’s mother Mary was only 13 when she was purchased by a slave master named Moses Carver during the Civil War. She died while George was still a child.
Although he was an orphan and often suffered from poor health, he loved to learn and educated himself at every opportunity. He had a special love for botany and was called “The Plant Doctor” even as a boy. He said later, “My very soul thirsted for an education. I literally lived in the woods. I wanted to know every strange stone, flower, insect, bird, or beast.”
Carver became famous not only for his research but also for his openness about crediting “Mr. Creator” for all of his discoveries. He told a New York City audience, “I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed at the moment I am inspired to create something new. . . . Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”
Carter developed:
- More than 300 products from peanuts
- More than 100 uses for the sweet potato
- Free educational bulletins with advice on livestock, soil improvement, cultivation, and nutritious recipes from crops
- The Jessup Wagon, a demonstration laboratory on wheels that he used to further educate farmers
Stories about George Washington Carver
When the New York Times heard that Black scientist George Washington Carver was open about his faith, it published an editorial called “Men of Science Never Talk that Way.” They criticized Carver for referencing God instead of evolution, but he didn’t back down. He kept quoting Scripture.
He said, “I regret exceedingly that such a gross misunderstanding should arise as to what was meant by ‘Divine inspiration.’ Inspiration is never at variance with information; in fact, the more information one has, the greater will be the inspiration.”
Carver said that God allowed him “often many times per day to permit me to speak to him through the three great Kingdoms of the world, which he has created, viz. —the Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable Kingdoms; their relations to each other, to us, our relations to them and the Great God who made all of us.”
Although he graduated from what is now Iowa State and could have had a career on the faculty there, he chose instead to accept the invitation of Booker T. Washington to head the new Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute where Black students could be educated. He served there faithfully for 47 years.
From his base at Tuskegee he gave hope to children of slaves and slave masters in the South that they could grow new crops instead of cotton, which had depleted the soil and was largely destroyed by the boll weevil in the early 20th century. He focused on developing self-sufficiency in poor farmers struggling to be independent and take care of their families.
When the New York Times heard that Black scientist George Washington Carver was open about his faith, it published an editorial called “Men of Science Never Talk that Way.” They criticized Carver for referencing God instead of evolution, but he didn’t back down. He kept quoting Scripture.
He said, “I regret exceedingly that such a gross misunderstanding should arise as to what was meant by ‘Divine inspiration.’ Inspiration is never at variance with information; in fact, the more information one has, the greater will be the inspiration.”
Carver said that God allowed him “often many times per day to permit me to speak to him through the three great Kingdoms of the world, which he has created, viz. —the Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable Kingdoms; their relations to each other, to us, our relations to them and the Great God who made all of us.”
Although he graduated from what is now Iowa State and could have had a career on the faculty there, he chose instead to accept the invitation of Booker T. Washington to head the new Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute where Black students could be educated. He served there faithfully for 47 years.
From his base at Tuskegee he gave hope to children of slaves and slave masters in the South that they could grow new crops instead of cotton, which had depleted the soil and was largely destroyed by the boll weevil in the early 20th century. He focused on developing self-sufficiency in poor farmers struggling to be independent and take care of their families.
