John Watson: George Washington Carver — the plant doctor

February being Black History Month, I thought an article on George Washington Carver would be appropriate. Last September, while vacationing in Missouri, we visited the Carver home place, which is now the George Washington Carver National Monument.

Moses and Susan Carver had a farm near Neosho, Mo.

About 1864 they bought a slave by the name of Mary. In 1865, while at the Carver farm, Mary had a son whom she named George. When George was only a few months old, a band of outlaws came by the farm and kidnapped Mary and the boy. They were later sold in Arkansas.

Hearing about the sale of Mary and her son, the Carvers sent for them to be brought home. Mary was never found. Some said she had died, but baby George was found and returned to the Carvers. At this time he was almost dead from whooping cough. The Carvers nursed him back to health.

As a result of this near-death bout with the whooping cough, George was a sickly child growing up. He never had to do many of the chores that many children his age had to do.

In later years George would write, “My body was very feeble, and it was a constant warfare between life and death to see who would gain the mastery.”

During these early years George spent much of his time in the woods near the Carver home getting to know the plants and animals of the area. He took many plants from the wild and put them in his special garden in the woods near the house. Any plants that were not doing well he worked with them and brought them back to full vitality. He became so good at taking care of his plants that he soon became known as the “plant doctor.”

George wanted a formal education more than anything else. However, in the rural area where the Carvers lived, there were no schools for black children. As he grew little older he was allowed to go the eight miles to Neosho, where they had a colored school.

George left home at an early age to make his own way in the world. He worked mainly as a cook in private homes for room and board plus a little money to further his education.

After finishing high school he wanted to go on to college. He was turned down at some but was finally accepted at a business college in Kansas City where he learned shorthand and typewriting.

He later went on to Simpson College in Winterset, Iowa. Here the emphasis was on the study of art. This was not really what George wanted so he transferred to Iowa State Agricultural College.

By working part-time, and with the help of friendly benefactors, he was able to complete his college education. He earned a Bachelor of Agriculture degree in 1894 and a Master of Agriculture degree in 1896.

After receiving his master’s degree he accepted an offer from Booker T. Washington to head the new Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Of all his scientific achievements, he is remembered mainly for his work with peanuts.

Starting in about 1903, his peanut work was aimed at freeing black farmers and the South from the tyranny of king cotton. With innovative farming methods, he convinced Southern farmers to grow such soil-enriching crops as soybeans and peanuts, in addition to cotton.

George Washington Carver, in ways large and small, was one of the world’s greatest recyclers. He firmly believed that “nature produces no waste,” and he repeatedly showed how even the least obvious of materials could be made into products to benefit everyone.

The list of Carver’s ideas and accomplishments is long and broad, but it all comes back to one central theme — Carver’s belief that everything on Earth has its purpose. In his career, he devised more than 300 ways to use peanuts. These included foods, paper, soap, and even gasoline! Before Carver, most peanuts were used as hog feed.

I think some of Carver’s wit and wisdom bears repeating. In a letter to the senior class he taught, dated Jan. 9, 1922, he writes:

“As your father, it is needless for me to keep saying, I hope, except for emphasis, that each one of my children will rise to the full height of your possibilities, which means the possession of these eight cardinal virtues which constitutes a lady or a gentleman.

“1st. Be clean inside and out.

“2nd. Who neither looks up to the rich or down on the poor.

“3rd. Who loses, if need be, without squealing.

“4th. Who wins without bragging.

“5th. Who is always considerate of women, children and old people.

“6th. Who is too brave to lie.

“7th. Who is too generous to cheat.

“8th. Who takes his share of the world and lets other people have theirs.

“May God help you carry out these eight cardinal virtues and peace and prosperity be yours through life. Lovingly yours, Geo W. Carver.”

During a commencement address at Selma University in 1942 Carver read the following from a poem by Edgar A. Guest.

“Figure it out for yourself, my lad,

“You’ve all that the greatest of men have had,

“Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes

“And a brain to use if you would be wise.

“With this equipment they all began,

So start for the top and say, “I can.”

Another quotation attributed to Carver: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

Carver died at Tuskegee on Jan. 5, 1943. That July, Congress designated George Washington Carver National Monument, the first park to honor a black scientist, educator and humanitarian.

The park and visitor center is located two miles west of Diamond, Mo. The park is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

John Watson is a Cleburne resident who can be reached at texastraveler@sbcglobal.net.