George Washington Carver
                     GEORGE WASHINGTON 
CARVER
WHO WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON 
CARVER?
 George Washington Carver was born enslaved and went on to 
become one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his 
time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. 
 Carver devised over 100 products using one major crop the peanut 
including dyes, plastics and gasoline.
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
EARLY LIFE
 Carver was most likely born in 1864 enslaved in Diamond, Missouri, 
during the Civil War years. Like many children of enslaved, the exact 
year and date of his birth are unknown.
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
EARLY LIFE CONT.
 Carver was one of many children born to Mary and Giles, an 
enslaved couple owned by Moses Carver. A week after his birth, 
Carver was kidnapped along with his sister and mother from the 
Carver farm by raiders from the neighboring state of Arkansas. 
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
EDUCATION
 Moses and his wife, Susan, decided to keep Carver and his brother 
James at their home after that time, raising and educating the two 
boys. Susan Carver taught Carver to read and write since no local 
school would accept Black students at the time.
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
EDUCATION CONT.
 The search for knowledge would remain a driving force for the rest 
of Carver's life. As a young man, he left the Carver home to travel to 
a school for Black children 10 miles away.
 It was at this point that the boy, who had always identified himself 
as "Carver's George" first came to be known as "George Carver." 
Carver attended a series of schools before receiving his diploma at 
Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
INVENTIONS 
 Carver's work at the helm of the Tuskegee Institute’s agricultural 
department included groundbreaking research on plant biology, 
much of which focused on the development of new uses for crops 
including peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pecans. 
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
INVENTIONS CONT.
 Carver's inventions include hundreds of products, including more 
than 300 from peanuts (milk, plastics, paints, dyes, cosmetics, 
medicinal oils, soap, ink, wood stains), 118 from sweet potatoes 
(molasses, postage stamp glue, flour, vinegar and synthetic rubber) 
and even a type of gasoline. 
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
PEANUT BUTTER
 Contrary to popular belief, Carver did not invent peanut butter. 
However, he did do a lot of research into new and alternate uses for 
peanuts. 
 He even became known as the “Peanut Man” after delivering a 
speech before the Peanut Growers Association in 1920 attesting to 
the wide potential of peanuts.
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
RACIAL INEQUALITY
 Carver also spoke about the possibilities for racial harmony in the 
United States. From 1923 to 1933, Carver toured white Southern 
colleges for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. 
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
DEATH
 Carver died after falling down the stairs at his home on January 5, 
1943, at the age of 78. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington 
on the Tuskegee grounds. 
SOURCE: WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM
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