African American Inventors: Goerge Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born in Missouri, sometime between 1861 and 1864. George didn’t become a free person until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

George loved to learn and read but black children were not allowed to go to the same schools as white children. The school for black children was far from where George lived. He left home as a little boy to go to the school. He studied very hard there. He would become a great inventor and scientist.

George wanted to go to college after he finished high school. Not many black students were allowed into college at that time. George worked for some time until he could borrow enough money to go to college.

He went to Simpson College in Iowa in 1890 where he studied art and music. George could draw plants so well that his teacher suggested he study botany - the science of plants. In 1891, George went to agricultural college in Iowa. He not only graduated from there but also taught other students. George carried on studying plants and his work became very well-known. He started teaching at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1896. He taught there for 47 years.

George also became an important research scientist. He found lots of new ways to use plants. He discovered about 100 new ways to use peanuts, including plastics, dyes, paint, and make-up.

George Washington Carver died in 1943. He was honoured all over the world for his achievements: there is a monument to him in Missouri where he grew up, he had a ship and a submarine named after him, his name was added to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, and he was admitted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990.