George Washington Carver: Man of Science, Servant of God | Presented by @ourdailybread

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER IS REMEMBERED TODAY AS A CREATIVE GENIUS... WHO MADE MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED PRODUCTS WITH PEANUTS. HE OVERCOMED THE BARRIERS OF RACIAL PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION... TO ACHIEVE WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION AS A MAN OF SCIENCE AND GREAT HUMANITARIAN. BUT HE WAS ALSO A MAN OF DEEP FAITH WHO GAVE CREDIT TO GOD, THE GREAT CREATOR, FOR ALL HIS DISCOVERIES. HELLO, I'M WINTLEY PHIPPS. TODAY, THE FIRST OF A TWO-PART SERIES... ON THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER, GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER WAS BORN INTO DARKNESS DURING THE CIVIL WAR. BUT WHEN HE DIED ABOUT EIGHTY YEARS LATER, NEWSPAPER ALL OVER THE WORLD BROUGHT THE NEWS.

BECAUSE? WHY DID YOU ONCE REJECT A SIX-FIGURE SALARY OFFER FROM THOMAS EDISON? PERHAPS BECAUSE HE WOULD NOT PATENT OR SELL HIS SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES, TELLING EVERYONE: "IF I KNOW THE ANSWER YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR THE PRICE OF A STAMP. "THE LORD DOES NOT CHARGE ANYTHING FOR KNOWLEDGE, AND I CHARGE YOU THE SAME." OR WAS IT THAT HE PATIENTLY ENDURED A LIFE OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, SAYING: "HOW MY SOUL GOES OUT TOWARDS THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT FOUND THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF TRUE HAPPINESS... "AND THE DIVINE LOVE, WHICH SHOULD RULE THE WORLD." DURING THE SIX DECADES SINCE HIS DEATH, INTEREST IN THIS MAN OF SCIENCE AND FAITH HAS CONTINUED TO GROW.

WE SEE A LOT OF GROWING INTEREST IN DR. CARVER. WE HAVE A LOT OF REQUESTS FROM K-12 STUDENTS ESPECIALLY WHO WANT TO USE THE IMAGES FROM OUR WEBSITE. BUT WE ALSO RECEIVE REQUESTS FROM VIDEO COMPANIES... AND MANY PUBLICATIONS THAT WANT TO USE THEIR IMAGES... AS PART OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS. AND WE ARE SEEING A GROWING VOLUME ON THE WEBSITE, I WOULD SAY PROBABLY MONTHLY, FROM 20 TO 30 THOUSAND VISITS. AND DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH, FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR, WE HAD 38,000 VISITS. THE REASON WHY I REFER TO HIM AS OUR MOST FAMOUS STUDENT... IS BECAUSE INTEREST APPEARS TO BE GROWING SUBSTANTIALLY IN HIM.

THE MAIN REASON WHY PEOPLE COME TO THE GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER NATIONAL MONUMENT... IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS SCIENTIST AND THE WORK HE WAS ABLE TO DO... WITH PEANUTS, SWEET POTATOES AND SOYBEANS. THAT'S BASICALLY THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. DR. CARVER WAS MUCH MORE. YOUR WORK WITH THOSE PLANTS, WITH THOSE FARM PRODUCTS IS TRULY PHENOMENAL. BUT THE MAN AND HIS LIFE AND TIMES IS WHAT PEOPLE COME TO LEARN AND UNDERSTAND HOW THIS MAN, GROWING UP AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR... WAS ABLE TO ACHIEVE ALL THE THINGS THAT HE COULD ACHIEVE. THIS IS THE STORY OF A CHILD WHO MARVELED AT GOD'S CREATION, A YOUNG MAN WHO HAD KNOWLEDGE, AND AN AGING SCIENTIST WHO TEACHED THE WORLD THE TRUE MEANING OF FREEDOM.

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER NATIONAL MONUMENT... WAS ESTABLISHED ON THE SAME FARM NEAR JOPLIN, MISSOURI, WHERE CARVER WAS BORN AND RAISED. IT IS THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK DEDICATED TO AN AFRICAN AMERICAN. ABOUT SIXTY THOUSAND PEOPLE A YEAR COME TO VISIT THE MUSEUM, SEE MOSES CARVER'S CABIN, AND WALK THROUGH THE SAME FOREST WHERE ONE OF OUR MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS... RECEIVED HIS FIRST INSPIRATION. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER WAS BORN IN MISSOURI AROUND 1864. BECAUSE HE WAS THE SON OF A SLAVE WOMAN, HIS BIRTH WAS NOT REGISTERED AND HE NEVER REALLY KNEW HIS EXACT AGE. HIS MOTHER, MARY, BELONGED TO MOSES CARVER AND HIS WIFE SUSAN, A COUPLE WHO HAD NO CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN.

The story is often told that when George was still a baby, he and his mother were kidnapped by slave raiders who planned to sell them in another state. MOSES CARVER HIRED A MAN TO FIND THEM AND OFFERED A REWARD FOR THEIR RETURN OF HIM. THE MAN BROUGHT BABY GEORGE BUT NO TRACE OF HIS MOTHER WAS NEVER FOUND ON HIM. AFTER THE CIVIL WAR ENDED, MOSES AND SUSAN CARVER...RAISED GEORGE AND HIS OLDER BROTHER, JIM, AS THEIR OWN. JIM WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO PLOW AND SPLIT WOOD, BUT GEORGE WAS ALWAYS SICK AND FRABILE. SUSAN TAUGHT HER HOW TO COOK, CLEAN, SEW AND DO HOUSEWORK.

BUT HIS FIRST LOVE WAS NATURE, AND THERE HE FOUND A WORLD OF HIS OWN. DURING HIS FREE TIME, YOUNG GEORGE WANDERED THROUGH THE FOREST... PICKING PLANTS AND FLOWERS. HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS, HOW IT GROWN AND EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM. AND DEEPLY, THERE WAS A HUNGER TO UNDERSTAND WHO HAD MADE THEM AND WHY. HE TELLS THE STORY IN ONE OF HIS LETTERS... THAT HE WAS CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, THAT HE ACCEPTED JESUS ​​CHRIST INTO HIS LIFE FROM HIM... ABOUT AGE 10 WHEN A YOUNG WHITE PLAYMATE TALKED TO HIM ABOUT JESUS ​​CHRIST. AND I WANTED TO GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

THIS YOUNG PLAYMATE TELL HIM ABOUT SUNDAY SCHOOL. AND IT LOOKED LIKE A WONDERFUL EXCITING PLACE TO BE WITH SO MANY INTERESTING THINGS TO DO. BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT I COULD NOT GO TO THAT SUNDAY SCHOOL, BECAUSE SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS ONLY FOR WHITES. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER WAS A MAN... WHOSE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE OVERCOMED ANY FEAR... HE COULD HAVE HAD IN THE OBSTACLES THAT WERE PLACED IN FRONT OF HIM TO REACH IT. EVEN AS A CHILD. A MAN WHO LOOKED AT HIS LIFE, REGARDLESS OF THE OBSTACLES... OR THE BARRIERS THAT HAD BEEN PLACED IN FRONT OF HIM, AS A BLESSING, NOT ENVYING THE INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED, BUT LEARNING AND TAKING FROM THEM.

CARVER WANTED TO GO TO SCHOOL AS A YOUNG MAN IN DIAMOND, MISSOURI. HE COULD NOT GO BECAUSE THERE WAS NO SCHOOL FOR HIM. I HAD TO GO TO NEOSHO, MISSOURI. AS A YOUNG MAN HE HAD TO WALK Miles, sleep in a haystack at night, and try to find some way to support himself... so he could go to an all-black school. WELL, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS... WAS A LADY CALLED MARIAH WATKINS WHOM HE STAYED WITH AND WENT TO SCHOOL NEXT TO HER HOUSE. A SCHOOL CALLED LINCOLN SCHOOL FOR BLACK CHILDREN.

MARIAH WATKINS' INFLUENCE CAME AS A RESULT OF HER BACKGROUND. SHE WAS A DEEPLY DEVOTED CHRISTIAN AND INSPIRED OR INSCULATED IN GEORGE THE IDEA OF HELPING HIS NEIGHBOR. AFTER LEARNING EVERYTHING HE COULD IN NEOSHO, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GEORGE CARVER... ACCOMPANIED A FAMILY TO FT. SCOTT, KANSAS, WHERE HE ONCE AGAIN WORKED FOR HIS ROOM AND FOOD. PAYING FOR YOUR OWN AND NOT SEEKING THE CHARITY OF OTHERS... WAS A PATTERN THAT WOULD PERSIST THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE. BUT RACIAL HATE WAS A CONSTANT ENEMY. ONE NIGHT, ANGRY VOICES AND FLAMING TORCHES DRAWED HIM TO THE WINDOW. OUTSIDE HE SAW A BLACK MAN DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS, THEN HANGED AND THEY SET HIM ON FIRE.

WHEN HE WAS YOUNG, HE WITNESSED A LYNCHING, FOR EXAMPLE. I CANNOT IMAGINE ANY MORE POWERFUL OPPRESSION THAT COULD BE SUFFERED TO ONE THAN THE OPPRESSION, THE INTELLECTUAL AND EMOTIONAL OPPRESSION THAT WOULD COME... FROM WITNESSING A MEMBER OF YOUR RACE BEING KILLED BY A CROWD OF PEOPLE, AND KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT PERSON WHO WAS KILLED... WAS KILLED AND HATED SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WAS THE SAME RACE AS YOU. CARVER NEVER FORGOT WHAT HE HAD SEEN THAT NIGHT. FT WAS LEFT. SCOTT, IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS, AND TRAVELED NORTH IN HIS CONTINUING SEARCH FOR EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITIES. THE STAGES OF HIS LIFE ARE SIMPLY FASCINATING IN THEMSELVES.

FIRST BEING STOLEN, YOU KNOW, THEN RAISED BY THE CARVERS, WHERE HE LEARNS EVERYTHING A PERSON CAN LEARN IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. AND THEN CONTINUE AT 12 ON YOUR OWN. A... BECAUSE YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE. AND THEN KEEP MOVING FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER IN YOUR SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE. HIS ODYSSEY TOOK HIM TO THE CITIES OF OLATHE AND MINNEAPOLIS IN KANSAS... WHERE HE FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL. CARVER SUPPORTED HIMSELF, MADE FRIENDS AND ALWAYS PARTICIPATED IN THE SERVICES OF A LOCAL CHURCH. HIS MUSICAL SKILL MADE HIM A WELCOME GUEST AT SOCIAL GATHERINGS. HE JUST KNEW HOW TO DO EVERYTHING. HE COULD COOK, HE COULD SEW, HE COULD MAKE HIS OWN TIES.

HE WAS A MUSICIAN, HE SING, HE PLAYED THE PIANO. AND I MENTIONED MACRAME AND CROCHET AND KNITTING AND SO ON, AND PAINTING. CARVER LONGED to receive a college education, but in the town of Highland, Kansas, prejudice once again blocked his dream. HE TRIED TO GO TO A UNIVERSITY IN KANSAS WHEN HE WAS YOUNG, APPLIED AND WAS ACCEPTED. BUT WHEN HE APPEARED AT THE SCHOOL, THEY DENIED ADMISSION BECAUSE OF HIS RACE. IN 1886 THEY MOVED TO THE PLAINS OF WEST KANSAS... WHERE THEY LANDED A FARM AND BUILT A SOED HOUSE. BUT GEORGE WAS NOT A FARMER AT HEART.

THE YEAR 1889 FOUND HIM IN THE TOWN OF WINTERSET, Iowa, WHERE HE WORKED AT THE ST. NICHOLAS HOTEL AND LATER OPENED ITS OWN LAUNDRY. DR. JOHN MILHOLLAND AND HIS WIFE, HELEN, WATCHED CARVER AT WINTERSET CHURCH AND BECAME FRIENDS WITH HIM. At their urging, he REQUESTED TO ATTEND SIMPSON COLLEGE IN NEARBY INDIANOLA. IT STILL SEEMED AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM... WHEN HE BEGAN HIS STUDIES THERE ON SEPTEMBER 9, 1890. WITH THE LITTLE MONEY HE HAD LEFT AFTER PAYING HIS FEES, HE BOUGHT SOME CORN FLOUR AND COW TALLET, AND FOUND ACCOMMODATION IN AN OLD CABIN VERY EQUAL TO THIS ONE. ONE, AND HE STARTED WASHING CLOTHES SO THAT OTHER STUDENTS PAY HIM.

IT WAS NEVER EASY, BUT CARVER NEVER COMPLAINED. A FELLOW STUDENT, PAULINE TYLER, REMEMBERED HER FRIENDSHIP WITH GEORGE CARVER: PAULINE TYLER: HE WAS SO TALL AND SO THIN, AND HE LOOKS SO HUNGRY, AND IT LOOKS LIKE, ABOVE ALL THINGS, HE NEEDED A FRIEND, AND HE FOUND ONE, NOT JUST ONE BUT MANY IN SIMPSON. WELL, WHEN THEY SET UP OUR STANDS A LITTLE LATER, GEORGE AND I WERE STANDING SO THAT WE WERE BETWEEN EIGHT AND TEN FEET APART. AND THROUGH THOSE YEARS WE BECAME GOOD FRIENDS. I ARRIVED AT THE OLD CHAPEL BUILDING AND JUST WENT IN, AND THERE WAS GEORGE AT THE PIANO, HIS BACK TO ME, WITH HIS FACE RAISED AND HIS HANDS ON THE KEYS, AND HE WAS PLAYING "THERE IS A WIDENESS IN THE MERCY OF GOD AS THE Breadth of the SEA." BLESS YOUR HEART, WE WHO THOUGHT WE HAD SO LITTLE...

WE WERE REALLY GIVING THANKS AT THAT PIANO. WINTLEY: ALONG WITH ART AND MUSIC, CARVER TOOK BASIC COLLEGE COURSES. HE NOT ONLY FOUND THE EDUCATION HE WANTED, BUT ALSO A STRONG SPIRITUAL EMPHASIS. HE PARTICIPATED IN CHAPEL AND BIBLE STUDIES... THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY CHAPTER OF THE YOUTH CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, AND FAITHFULLY ATTENDED CHURCH. AND SLOWLY, A CONVICTION BEGAN TO GROW IN HIS SOUL. IN A LETTER TO THE MILHOLLANDS, CARVER WROTE: "I REALIZE THAT GOD HAS A GREAT WORK FOR ME TO DO." PROBABLY WHAT SURPRISED ME THE MOST ABOUT CARVER... AS I GOT TO KNOW HIM THROUGH HIS LETTERS WAS, EH...

WAS HIS SPIRITUALITY about him. I REALLY HAD NO IDEA THAT THE MAN WAS SO DRIVEN BY HIS SENSE OF PURPOSE, AND THAT THE SENSE OF PURPOSE WAS ONE THAT HE WAS GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD. AT SIMPSON COLLEGE, CARVER FOLLOWED THE STUDY OF ART, ONE OF HIS GREAT PASSIONS IN LIFE. THERE HE IMPRESSED HIS TEAMMATES WITH HIS SKILL. HIS ART TEACHER, MISS ETTA BUDD, ALSO ADMIRE CARVER'S BRUSHWORK. BUT SHE OFFERED HIM A CAREER SUGGESTION... THAT WOULD CHANGE THE COURSE OF HER LIFE. Although Carver was a talented artist, Miss Budd urged him to consider a practical course... that could benefit more people.

ETTA BUDD'S FATHER, JOSEPH, TEACHED HORTICULTURE AT THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE IN AMES. WITHIN A YEAR, CARVER HAD CHANGED SCHOOLS AND DECLARED HIS MAJOR IN AGRICULTURE. BUT DURING HIS STUDIES AT SIMPSON COLLEGE, THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS... HAD GIVEN HIM A PRICELESS GIFT THAT HE WOULD ALWAYS CARRY WITH HIM. IN LATER YEARS, CARVER SAID OF HIS TIME THERE: "SIMPSON WAS THE BEGINNING. "THE FRIENDLY ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE DRIVEN ME. "THEY MADE ME BELIEVE THAT I WAS A REAL HUMAN BEING." AT IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CARVER DIVED HEARTFULLY INTO A WORLD WHERE HE WORKED HARD TO OVERCOME THE BARRIERS OF RACE AND DISCRIMINATION.

ALTHOUGH HE WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT THERE, HE JOINED THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, A DEBATE CLUB, AND RAISED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN IN THE SCHOOL'S MILITARY SCIENCE DEPARTMENT. HE BECAME THE FIRST COACH AND MASSEAUSE OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM. And somehow he managed to earn his way doing odd jobs for teachers. ONCE AGAIN, CARVER MADE MANY FRIENDS WHO OFTEN JOINED HIM TO HIS CAUSE. ONCE, IN THE UNIVERSITY DINING ROOM, A STUDENT WHO RECENTLY ARRIVED FROM THE SOUTH, OBJECTED TO CARVER'S PRESENCE AT HIS TABLE BY RINGING HIS CUTLERY, SCRAPING HIS CHAIR, AND THEN MOVING TO ANOTHER TABLE.

BUT THE STUDENTS AT THAT TABLE SONICATED THEIR CUTLERY, SCRAPED THEIR CHAIRS, AND LEFT THE YOUNG MAN SITTING ALONE WHILE THEY WENT TO MEET CARVER. AMONG HIS PEERS, CARVER'S NICKNAME WAS "THE DOCTOR", AND THE UNIVERSITY YEARBOOK DESCRIBED HIM AS ONE... "WHOM NOT EVEN THE CRITICS CRITICIZE." ART IS STILL A PRIZED HOBBY AND ONE OF CARVER'S PAINTINGS WAS SELECTED FOR EXHIBITION...AT THE WORLD COLOMBIAN EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO. AT THE AGRICULTURE SCHOOL, CARVER'S TEACHERS RECOGNIZED HIS POTENTIAL... AND ENCOURAGED HIS STUDIES. DR. LOUIS PAMMEL AND JAMES WILSON BECOME THEIR MENTORS... AND FRIENDS FOR LIFE. CARVER WAS OFTEN A GUEST IN THE HOUSE OF PROFESSOR JAMES WILSON, A MAN KNOWN THROUGHOUT IOWA AS A GIFTED TEACHER OF AGRICULTURE AND ALSO OF THE BIBLE.

Dozens of young people, including George Carver, attended his popular Sunday school class. PROFESSOR WILSON BELIEVED IN OUTREACH AND RECRUITED MANY WILLING HANDS...IN EFFORTS TO TOUCH THOSE ON CAMPUS FOR CHRIST. CARVER WROTE TO HIS FRIENDS about him, DR. AND THE LADY. MILHOLLAND, "OH HOW I WISH THE PEOPLE WOULD WAKE UP FROM THEIR SLEEP OF HIM..." AND COME OUT IN SOUL AND BODY FOR CHRIST. "I'M SO ANXIOUS TO GET OUT AND BE DOING SOMETHING. "THE MORE MY IDEAS DEVELOP, THE MORE BEAUTIFUL... "AND GREAT THE PLAN I HAVE SET FOR MYSELF TO FOLLOW SEEMS, "OR RATHER THE ONE GOD HAS DESTINED FOR ME. "AND LET US HOPE THAT IN THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF THE LORD, HE WILL BRING OUT THESE THINGS WHICH WE ALL HAVE SO WAITED FOR." GEORGE JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF STUDENTS WHO GATHERED IN WILSON'S OFFICE...

FOR A REGULAR LATE NIGHT PRAYER MEETING ALSO, CARVER AND PROFESSOR WILSON WORKED TOGETHER... TO ATTRACTNEW STUDENTS TO THE BIBLE STUDIES AND WEEKLY MEETINGS HELD BY THE YMCA AND IT WAS THROUGH THE YMCA THAT CARVER FOUND HIS GREATEST SPIRITUAL GROWTH DURING THE SUMMERS OF 1893. IN 1994, HE WAS SELECTED AS A DELEGATE TO THE YMCA SUMMER CONFERENCES IN LAKE GENEVA, WISCONSIN HERE, IN THE COMPANY OF STUDENTS FROM UNIVERSITIES FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, THE DELEGATES STUDY THE BIBLE. TOGETHER, AND SEEKED GOD'S DIRECTION FOR THEIR LIVES. AT ONE POINT, GEORGE AND HIS CLASSMATE, CHARLES REED, PLANNED TO GO TOGETHER AS MISSIONARIES TO AFRICA, BUT GRADUALLY, A DIFFERENT SENSE OF CALLING BEGAN TO EMERGE.

AFTER RECEIVING HIS BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN 1894, CARVER BECAME A TEACHING ASSISTANT AND BEGAN WORKING TOWARD A MASTER'S DEGREE. As his studies neared completion, with many options ahead of him, Carver received a letter from BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. WOULD YOU CONSIDER JOINING THE FACULTY AT TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE IN ALABAMA? OTHER SCHOOLS HAD OFFERED CARVER MORE MONEY. HIS CURRENT POSITION OFFERED GREATER OPPORTUNITY. FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, He made this a reason for fervent prayer. I DON'T THINK YOU CAN UNDERSTAND GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING HIS SPIRITUALITY about him. TO TELL THE STORY OF CARVER THE TEACHER AND CARVER THE RESEARCHER, OF CARVER THE SCIENTIST, WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHAT DRIVEN CARVER, AND THAT BEING HIS SPIRITUAL CONNECTION WITH GOD...

AND HIS SENSE OF GOD'S VISION FOR HIM AS A MAN THAT WOULD HELP THE OBLIGED. WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER. ON APRIL 12, 1896, CARVER WROTE TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON SAYING: "IT HAS BEEN THE ONLY IDEAL OF MY LIFE TO BE OF THE GREATEST GOOD... "FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF MY PEOPLE POSSIBLE," AND TO THIS PURPOSE I HAVE STANDED PREPARING FOR THESE MANY YEARS." THREE WEEKS LATER, CARVER ACCEPTED THE JOB AT TUSKEGEE AND PROMISED WASHINGTON: "...TO COOPERATE WITH YOU TO DO ALL I CAN THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME..." TO IMPROVE THE CONDITIONS OF OUR PEOPLE." MARIAH WATKINS HE SAID TO GEORGE, "GEORGE, YOU MUST GO OUT INTO THE WORLD AND LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN LEARN, "AND THEN, ONCE YOU'VE LEARNED THAT, GIVE THAT LEARNING BACK TO YOUR PEOPLE, "BECAUSE THEY'RE HUNGRY FOR A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE, GEORGE." .HE TOOK THAT TO HEART DURING THE YEARS AT THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER...

HE DEVELOPED ACADEMICALLY, SOCIALLY AND SPIRITUALLY COULD HAVE STAYED THERE AND FOLLOWED A CAREER IN BOTANY RESEARCH, BUT HE HAD A HIGHER CALLING, ONE THAT HE TOOK. HE FROM HIS OWN SAFETY IN THE MIDWEST... TO HELP PEOPLE FACE THE CHALLENGES OF POVERTY AND RACISM IN THE SOUTH IN EARLY OCTOBER 1896, GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER... BOARDED A TRAIN TO TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE IN ALABAMA, EVEN IF THERE WAS. HE GOT A MASTER'S DEGREE IN AGRICULTURE, HE HAD TO SIT UP ALL NIGHT... BECAUSE HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP IN A PULLMAN CAR BED. HE COULD NOT EAT IN THE DINING CAR, AND MEN YOUNGER THAN HIM WOULD CALL HIM "BOY", ALL BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN.

BUT DURING THE NEXT HALF CENTURY, HE ASCENDED TO A LEVEL OF FAME AND RECOGNITION... UNWORTHY FOR A PERSON OF HIS RACE. AND THROUGH IT ALL, HE WOULD RECOGNIZE GOD, THE GREAT CREATOR, AS THE SOURCE OF ALL HIS SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND ACHIEVEMENTS. THAT NIGHT AS HIS TRAIN RUNNING THROUGH THE DARKNESS, HE JUST KNEW... THAT GOD HAD ASKED HIM TO SPEND HIS LIFE HELPING OTHERS AND HE HAD SAID YES. HIS GREATEST STRENGTH WAS HIS BELIEF FIRST IN HIMSELF AND HIS TRUST IN GOD TO FILL IN THE WEAK POINTS. SO IT WAS CONSIDERED AS THE TOOL THROUGH WHICH GOD WORKED...

TO REACH THOSE WHO DEPENDED ON HIM. CREDIT WAS NEVER GIVEN FOR ANYTHING. NEVER A STUDENT OF THAT. NOT CARVER, BUT "GOD THROUGH ME." I THINK THAT WAS HIS GREATEST STRENGTH. I THINK HIS MAIN GOAL IN LIFE WAS TO FIND WHAT HIS PURPOSE WAS... WHAT HE WAS HERE TO DO AND TO DO IT. MOST OF US ARE LOOKING FOR THE WHY. "WHY AM I HERE AND WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Well, I think George Washington Carver figured out why he was here and what he was supposed to do. AND HE DID. IT'S A LITTLE HARD To assume that some of the things I go through... are things I can't get over, when I look at some of the things he went through and moved on.

AND SOMETIMES I HAVE TO COME BACK. He helps GO AND LOOK AT SOME OF THAT...TO GET SOME INSPIRATION TO MOVE A LITTLE AHEAD. I THINK THAT MAY BE WHAT IT OFFERS A LOT OF PEOPLE. IT'S JUST THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE THINGS THAT HE WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU THAT... DON'T ALLOW YOU TO FEEL DAMN ABOUT YOURSELF. I THINK IT IS ABOUT THINKING ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOR... AND NOT SO MUCH ABOUT YOURSELF, ABOUT GIVING... NOT SO MUCH ABOUT RECEIVING. AND THAT IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO DO BUT HE DID IT. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER LIVED WITH A SENSE OF PURPOSE WHICH HE EXPRESSED IN THESE WORDS: WHEN HE ARRIVED AT TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, HIS BIGGEST CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES WERE JUST AHEAD.

WHEN DR. CARVER ARRIVED AT TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE IN OCTOBER 1896, HE WAS Eager TO BEGIN WORK AS DIRECTOR OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. BUT HE WAS SHOCKED TO DISCOVER THAT HE HAD NO RESEARCH LABORATORY, NO EQUIPMENT, NO STAFF AND NO ESTABLISHED COURSES TO TEACH. ALSO, THE SCHOOL EXPECTED HIM TO LIVE IN A SINGLE TEACHERS' DORM, TWO MEN PER ROOM. TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE WAS A YOUNG, INNOVATIVE ACADEMIC INSTITUTION WHEN CARVER WENT THERE, INSUFFICIENTLY PREPARED TO DO SOPHISTICATED SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS, WITH NO SIGNIFICANT BUDGET TO DO THE KIND OF WORK CARVER WANTED TO DO, SO ONE OF HIS FIRST CHALLENGES WAS SIMPLY EQUIPPING AND EQUIP THE LABORATORY.

THIS IS YOUR MICROSCOPE. I THINK IT'S THE ONE THEY GAVE HIM FROM THE STATE OF IOWA THAT HE BROUGHT WITH HIM WHEN HE CAME. WHEN HE ARRIVED IN TUSKEGEE HE DIDN'T FIND THE KIND OF EQUIPMENT THAT HE HAD IN THE STATE OF IOWA AND WAS EXPECTING TO FIND. BUT HE MANAGED TO CREATE FROM PIECES OF WHAT HE FOUND, BROKEN BOTTLES, BOTTLES, PLATES, TEA CUPS, WHATEVER, AND MANAGED TO SET UP A LABORATORY FOR HIS STUDENTS. IN RETROSPECTIVE, IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT CARVER ACHIEVED ANYTHING... WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW MANY OBSTACLES HE FACED. HE FACED, PERHAPS WORST OF ALL, THE SKEPTICISM OF WHITE AMERICA AT THE TIME.

WHITE AMERICA DIDN'T BELIEVE A BLACK MAN COULD PRACTICE SCIENCE. WHITE AMERICA DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT A BLACK MAN COULD... DO THE KIND OF INTELLECTUAL EXERCISES THAT THE PRACTICE OF SCIENCE REQUIRES. So I guess what Carver had was his own conviction that God had ordained him on a mission...to do the kind of things he hoped to do. BUT IT WOULD TAKE ALL THE STRENGTH CARVER COULD FIND TO FACE THE IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES. TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE SUPPLIED MUCH OF ITS OWN FOOD THROUGH GARDENS, LIVESTOCK AND A POULTRY FARM. IN ADDITION TO CARVER'S TEACHING AND RESEARCH RESPONSIBILITIES, HE WAS EXPECTED TO MANAGE THE DAILY AFFAIRS OF THE AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT.

AND THAT WAS NEITHER HER INTEREST NOR HER GIFT from him. THE SITUATION OFTEN LEFT CARVER FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY. SOMEONE WHO HAD A HAND. I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT BECOMES INTERESTING...IN TERMS OF HIS CAREER HERE, HE WAS A VISIONARY. I COULD SEE WHERE THINGS COULD GO. SOMETIMES THE NUTS AND BOLT OF PRACTICEING SOME THINGS WERE BEYOND HIM, OR WERE LOST IN THEIR VISIONS OF HIM. A GREAT INVENTOR. NOT A VERY GOOD POULTRY FARMER. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON WAS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFICIENT AND ECONOMIC OPERATION OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE. I WANTED AN ACCOUNT EVERY DAY OF HOW MANY NEW CHICKENS WE HAVE, AND HOW MANY NEW PIGS, AND HOW MANY NEW COWS?

HOW MUCH MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT? AND CARVER HAD THE SOUL AND ASPIRATION OF A REAL ARTIST. AND I THINK IT PROBABLY DRIVE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON CRAZY. Carver didn't do well as a chicken farmer...in things like bookkeeping, records, making money and turning a profit. HE COULD RAISE CHICKENS, HE DID IT WELL. BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS ARGUMENTS AND ARGUMENTS... BETWEEN GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER AND BOOKER T. WASHINGTON... ABOUT MAKING PRACTICAL UNITS LIKE CHICKENS, FARMS, PIGS, MAKING THEM PAY. AND THE TENSION CONTINUED THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE TOGETHER. WHEN BOOKER T. WASHINGTON DIED IN 1915, BE SURE CARVER WAS BEING VERY HONEST...

WHEN HE WROTE TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON'S WIDOW AND TOLD HER THAT HE WAS UNKNOWN AND THAT ONE OF HIS DEEPEST REGRETS... WAS THAT I HAD NEVER TOLD DR. WASHINGTON HOW MUCH SHE VALUED HIM AND HOW MUCH SHE APPRECIATED HIS WORK. CARVER HAD ARRIVED IN THE SOUTH AFTER THE LAND HAD BEEN RUINED... BY YEARS OF FARMING A SINGLE CROP THAT DEPENDENT ON COTTON. DURING CARVER'S EARLY YEARS IN TUSKEGEE, HE BEGAN TEACHING FARMERS THE VALUE OF CROP ROTATION AND THE SOIL-RECOVERING POWER OF PLANTS SUCH AS PEANUTS, SWEET POTATOES AND SOYBEANS. TO REACH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, HE TOOK HIS MESSAGE OF CONSERVATION ON THE ROAD.

IN 1897 CARVER TRAVELED BY A HORSE DRAWN CAR TO VISIT AND TEACH IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. CARVER ALSO ORGANIZED FARMERS' CONFERENCES IN TUSKEGEE... WHERE HE OFFERED PRACTICAL HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT. HE OFTEN TOLD HIS STUDENTS, "LEARN TO DO COMMON THINGS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. "WE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT ANYTHING THAT HELP FILL THE DINNER BUCKET IS VALUABLE." FARMERS NEEDED CROPS THEY COULD SELL, SO CARVER HE CONDUCTED RESEARCH... TO DISCOVER NEW USES FOR PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES IN 1921, WHEN HE CAME BEFORE THE HOUSE WAYS AND WAYS COMMITTEE... TO SUPPORT A PROTECTIVE TARIFFS ON PEANUTS, HE SURPRISED THE POWERFUL FROM WASHINGTON...SHOWING THEM SOME OF THE MANY PRODUCTS HE HAD MADE WITH THE PEANUT, INCLUDING FLOUR, MILK, BREAKFAST, INSTANT COFFEE, CHEESE AND OIL, HIS ALLOTTED TEN MINUTES WAS EXPANDED TO ALMOST AN HOUR AND BRINGED CARVER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FROM MANY.

DIFFERENT SOURCES, "I'M PROUD." TO COME TO TUSKEGEE BECAUSE I'M PROUD OF WHAT TUSKEGEE HAS DONE. BUT OVER THE TUSKEGEE YEARS, PERHAPS HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WAS HIS SILENT BUT CONSISTENT PERSONAL INVESTMENT IN OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES. I MET DR. CARVER AT TUSKEGEE. And I was his paperboy for 10 years. THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER, BIRMINGHAM NEWS AND THE CONSTITUTION OF ATLANTA. MAGAZINES, THE BLACK DIARIOS, CHICAGO DEFENDER, PITTSBURGH COURIER, I GAVE THEM ALL TO THEM. HE WAS A GREAT READER. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY DR. CARVER, HAD A VERY SHARP MIND. AND HE WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE PERSON HE WAS TALKING TO.

THE INTERVIEWS I HAVE CONDUCTED WITH PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER'S CLASS... SUGGEST TO ME THAT CARVER WAS A VERY DEMANDING PROFESSOR, THAT HE WAS SOMEONE WHO USED THE SOCRATIC METHOD. AS A STUDENT TOLD ME, CARVER DIDN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING. HE WOULD MAKE YOU WORK FOR THE ANSWER. HE WOULD CONTINUALLY REQUEST AN RESPONSE FROM YOU GIVING JUST A HINT OF THE ANSWER. AND SOMETIMES, HE PLAYFULLY RESCORED PEOPLE WHO SEEMED TO HIM... THAT THEY WERE BECOMING A LITTLE TOO BULLY AND TOO LORD OF WHAT THEY KNEW. I REMEMBER ONE STUDENT TOLD ME THAT HE STARTED BY ANSWERING ONE OF CARVER'S QUESTIONS...ONCE BY SAYING, "NOW I BELIEVE DR.

CARVER," AND CARVER STOPPED HIM AND SAID, "Mr. So-and-so, who accused you?" ". TO BE ABLE TO THINK?" HE MUST HAVE BEEN A REALLY DYNAMIC AND INTERESTING TEACHER. CARVER LOVED HIS STUDENTS. HE LOVED THEM ALL, BECAUSE HE SEE IN EACH ONE AN ​​EXPRESSION, A MANIFESTATION OF GOD. BUT HE LOVED WHAT HE WAS DOING. AND I THINK THAT LOVE WAS ONE OF THE MOST CONTAGIOUS PARTS OF HIS LIFE. HE WAS A YMCA ADVISOR FOR MOST OF HIS CAREER HERE... THE BIBLE CLASS WAS BASICALLY A VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY. THE SIZE WAS ORIGINALLY A SMALL GROUP. STUDENTS. And little by little it grew to a size where they had to move it.

I THINK THE NUMBERS I HAVE SEEN HAVE BEEN OVER 100 STUDENTS OR MORE I THINK THE IMAGE OF CARVER AS THE SCIENTIST QUIETLY LOCKED IN... IN. HIS LABORATORY WITHOUT HAVING ANY CONTACT WITH ANYONE IS NOT ACCURATE AT ALL. CARVER LOVED TO PLAY, HE LOVED TO JOKE, AND IT WAS THAT PERSONAL SIDE OF CARVER THAT MADE HIM SO ATTRACTIVE TO MANY PEOPLE. STUDENTS TO COLLECT AND IDENTIFY PLANT AND INSECT SPECIMENS. BIOGRAPHER LINDA MCMURRAY DESCRIBES AN INCIDENT WHERE A GROUP OF CHILDREN... TRIED TO TRICK DR. CARVER BUILDING AN INSECT FROM SEVERAL PARTS OF DIFFERENT ERRORS. WHEN THEY TOOK IT TO DR.

CARVER AND ASKED HIM WHAT IT WAS, HE LOOKED AT HIM QUICKLY AND SAID, "I THINK THIS IS A PREGNANCY." I WOULD WALK TO CAMPUS TO VISIT MY FATHER'S CLASS... IN ARCHITECTURE, AND THEN I WOULD CROSS THE STREET... AND VISIT DR. CARVER. DR. CARVER MADE ME BELIEVE THAT MY VISIT WAS VERY IMPORTANT. ONE DAY HE TOOK A ROPE BAG OUT OF HIS POCKET. HE SAID, "GIRL, LOOK AT THIS ball of twine. "THIS IS WHAT YOU AND A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE THROW OUT... "WHEN YOU RECEIVE A PACKAGE FROM THE MAIL." AND HE SAID, "I KEEP THIS ROPE AND FIND A SECOND USE FOR IT." I BELIEVED BEFORE I REALIZED THAT DR.

CARVER CROCHETED WITH THAT DISCARDED YARN, EMBROIDERED, MADE MACRAMÉ AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS. HE FOUND A SECOND USE FOR EVERYTHING. HE WOULD FEEL THAT HIS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE LOVE OF HUMANITY. HE LOVED PEOPLE...BLACK PEOPLE, WHITE PEOPLE AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN. He loved Tuskegee and he loved the South. HENRY FORD TRIED TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO ENTER HIS PLASTICS COMPANY. THOMAS EDISON WANTED HIM TO JOIN HIS COMPANY OF HIS, BUT HE WAS AGAINST LEAVING TUSKEGEE. HE SAID HIS PEOPLE NEEDED HIM. AND I THINK THAT WAS A TRUE STATEMENT. THEY NEEDED IT. IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE IN THE EARLY 1920S, WHEN THIS GREAT, SOFT-TALKED BLACK MAN...

THE CONGRESS ON INTERRACIAL COOPERATION AND THE YMCA ASKED THIS GREAT, SOFT-TALKED BLACK MAN... TO CONGRESS ON INTERRACIAL COOPERATION AND THE YMCA... GO TO THE SOUTH AND SPEAK TO GROUPS OFYOUNG WHITE PEOPLE. MEN, EVERYONE WHO HAD COME, SHOULD BE SUSPECTED, FROM HIGHLY RACIST AND SEGREGATED FAMILIES. AND YET, IN THE 1920S, SOMEHOW, CARVER, THROUGH HIS PERSONAL MAGNETISM, HIS FAITH, HIS MEEKNESS, HIS ABSOLUTE SINCERITY, WAS ABLE TO OVERCOME THE RACIAL HOSTILITY... WHICH HAD ALWAYS FELT BY THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO HAD GROWN UP IN THE SOUTH, DISASSOCIATING FROM THE BLACKS. . I guess it's more explained in Booker T. Washington's philosophy, in one of his quotes, than in Carver's, when Booker T. said, "I will not allow any man to drag me down so low as to make me hate." HIM." SO IN ACTION THAT'S WHAT IT WAS WITH CARVER.

Carver was never bothered by the negative reaction of white people to his personality, because he looked inward instead of outward. I THINK THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE. FROM DR. DE CARVER'S MEETINGS IN THE SOUTH... A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE EMERGED... WHO WANTED TO SHARE THEIR FAITH AND VISION. CARVER CALLED THEM HIS CHILDREN THE CARVER CHILDREN WAS A COLLECTION OF WHITE YOUNG PEOPLE... WHO KNEW CARVER. THROUGH YMCA CAMPS OR THROUGH MEETINGS... OF YOUNG PEOPLE GATHERED BY THE CONGRESS ON INTERRACIAL COOPERATION AND WHO WOULD COME UP TO CARVER AFTERWARDS AND SAY THINGS... THAT INTIMATE A DESIRE TO KNOW THIS WISE MAN BETTER AND THESE THINGS.

CONVERSATIONS AFTER THE LECTURES, FRIENDSHIPS EMERGED THAT RESULTED IN LONG, AND SOMETIMES LIFE-LONG CORRESPONDENCES BETWEEN CARVER AND THESE YOUNG WHITE PEOPLE, AND ALSO RESULTED IN VISITS BY THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WHITE TO THE TUSKEGEE CAMPUS GROWING UP IN THE SOUTH, I THINK PROBABLY. I HAD... THE KIND OF FEELING OF PREJUDICE... THAT THOSE IN THE SOUTHERN GENERALLY HAD THEN. MY BROTHER CECIL WAS WORKING... IN THE TOM HOUSTON PEANUT COMPANY'S LABORATORY IN 1929, AND HE MET DR. CARVER THERE. AND ON JANUARY 1, 1930, CECIL AND I TOOK A 42 MILE MOTOR TRIP TO TUSKEGEE. AND HE INTRODUCED ME TO DR. CARVER THAT MORNING. Until then, I hadn't realized that any black person could have a wonderful scientific mind and be exactly like the white doctors and white scientists he had known in college.

BUT HERE WAS A MAN WHO EQUALED THEM IN EVERY ASPECT. HIS MIND from him, HIS EXTREME AND HIS RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND HIS RESPONSIBILITY from him... WERE SO WONDERFUL TO ME THAT THEY TOOK ME OFF MY FEET. IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, AND IN FACT, WITHIN A VERY FEW WEEKS, HE STARTED SENDING US LETTERS. IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE RECEIVING THESE LETTERS, BECAUSE I OFTEN SENT SOMETHING PERSONAL IN THERE, A PHOTOGRAPH OR A CLIPPING. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF A CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, WHERE YOU FEEL THAT THIS PERSON IS NOT JUST A DROP, HE IS SOMEONE SPECIAL TO ME.

IN MAY 1933, AL ZISSLER WAS ASKED TO LEAD DR. CARVER ON A LECTURE TOUR FOR THE YMCA... THROUGH GEORGIA, VIRGINIA AND THE CAROLINAS. MY RESPONSIBILITIES WAS TO DRIVE THE CAR, BE IN CHARGE OF THE CAR, BUT ALSO TAKE DR. CARVER'S SAMPLE PORTFOLIO, ITEMS HE CREATED. IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE PEOPLE'S REACTION. YOU COULD SAY THE CROWDS WERE ON THE COLD SIDE, IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT THAT. BUT AFTER THE CONFERENCE, HE HAD THAT WAY OF... SMILE A LOT. HE ANSWERED QUESTIONS AND AFTER THE CONFERENCES PEOPLE SIMPLY GOT ADDED TO SHAKE HIS HAND. I mean both whites and blacks.

OF COURSE, WHAT SURPRISED ME WAS THAT HE HAD A HIGH VOICE, A VERY HIGH VOICE. AND THAT IS THE RESULT OF AN INJURY I HAD, I THINK FROM WHOOPING COUGH, WHEN I WAS A CHILD. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE POWER CARVER HAD OVER THE AUDIENCE AND HEAR THIS VOICE, YOU HAVE TO CONCLUDE THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT HIS GENERAL PRESENCE... THAT MUST HAVE CAPTIVED THE AUDIENCE. THE VOICE SURELY DIDN'T DO IT. SO THERE MUST BE SOMETHING ABOUT BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF CARVER... THAT HAD A MAGNETIC EFFECT ON THE PEOPLE WHO SAW AND HEARED HIM. I HEARD HE SAID HE TALKS TO GOD.

AND HE WOULD GO OUT EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR A WALK... AND PICK UP PLANTS AND THINGS TO DRAW TO HIS LAB. AND HE CLAIMS THAT HE COULD NOT HAVE ACHIEVED WHAT HE DID, OR MADE THE DISCOVERIES FOR WHAT HE DID EXCEPT FOR HIS SESSIONS WITH GOD. HE SAID: "WITHOUT GOD TO DRAW THE CURTAINS I WOULD BE INEFFICIENT." HERE WAS A MAN WHO COULD GO OUT IN THE MORNING AND FIND GOD... IN ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING HE FOUND, IT WAS A FLOWER, A PIECE OF GRASS, A BIRD, A TREE, HE FOUND GOD IN EVERYTHING. AND BECAUSE HE SEEKED GOD IN EVERYTHING, HE FOUND HIM, AND WHEN HE FOUND HIM, HE LISTENED TO THE WORD THAT GOD SENT HIM FOR THAT DAY.

IT WAS SAID THAT SCIENCE AND RELIGION DO NOT MIX. BUT I THINK HE GOT MIXED WITH DR. CARVER. HE WAS VERY RELIGIOUS. AND HE WAS AN OUTSTANDING SCIENTIST. AND THOSE THINGS GOT MIXED. THAT ANOTHER SCIENTIST... NOT EVEN EINSTEIN GAVE CREDIT TO GOD... FOR WHAT HE DID OR WHAT HE PUBLISHED. At least I'm not aware that he... that Einstein did it. BUT CARVER NEVER MADE A MAJOR MOVE FOR WHICH HE TOOK CREDIT FOR MAKING IT. HE WAS JUST THE TOOL THROUGH WHICH GOD USED HIM TO DO IT. THAT'S THE LESS ACTUAL PART. DR. CARVER NEVER MARRIED. THERE WERE STORIES OF AN EARLY ROMANCE IN TUSKEGEE THAT DIDN'T WORK, BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW FOR SURE.

WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER GAVE HIS LIFE IN THE SERVICE OF GOD AND OTHERS. He often said, "IT IS NOT THE STYLE OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR, OR THE TYPE OF CARS YOU DRIVE, OR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU HAVE IN THE BANK, THAT COUNTS." THESE MEAN NOTHING. IT'S SIMPLY SERVICE THAT MEASURES SUCCESS." CARVER OFTEN TOLD PEOPLE THAT... THERE MUST BE SOME EVIDENCE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ON THIS EARTH WHEN YOU LEFT IT, THAT YOU MUST HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROVE THAT YOU ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING. AND WHEN If you look Looking back on Carver's life, you can see a lot of what he accomplished, and in the broadest sense, I guess that's what we all tried to do and Carver taught us how to do it, and I think that's why PEOPLE STILL FASCINATED.

WITH HIM. WHEN DR. CARVER DIED ON JANUARY 5, 1943, MESSAGES OF CONDOLENCE AND TRIBUTE CAME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, AS IN THE DARKNESS, SIMPLICITY CONTINUES TO BE HIS GRAVE, NEAR BOOKER'S. T. WASHINGTON, JUST BEHIND ME, IS MARKED ONLY BY A SIMPLE STONE SLAB AND THIS BENCH IS A GOOD PLACE TO SIT AND THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT... OF A PERSON WHOSE GOAL WAS TO HELP THE "BELOW MAN." CARVER REFUSED LUCRATIVE JOB OFFERS FROM HENRY FORD AND THOMAS EDISON, AND CHOSE INSTEAD TO SPEND 47 YEARS IN TUSKEGEE. HE PATENTED SOME OF HIS DISCOVERIES from it, GAVE HIS KNOWLEDGE from it AND FREE MONEY TO OTHERS, AND LEFT HIS ENTIRE ESTATE TO THE CARVER FOUNDATION IN TUSKEGEE.

FOR THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST, HIS GREATEST LEGACY WAS ONE OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND LOVE. IN ALL THE DR. IN CARVER'S LIFE, DURING THE DIFFICULT DAYS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND PERSONAL DISCOURAGEMENT, HE ALWAYS CARRIED A FRESH FLOWER ON HIS LAPEL. HE TOOK TIME TO SEE THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD AROUND HIM AND TO AFFIRM THE VALUE OF EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF THEIR COLOR OR STATION IN LIFE. ONE OF HIS FAVORITE POEMS WAS “TEAM”, BY EDGAR A. GUEST. AND HE QUOTED IT OFTEN TO CLOSE A SPEECH.