George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver, an American agricultural scientist and inventor, was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century America. He was born into slavery and was orphaned when his father died before his birth. As an infant, his entire remaining family was kidnapped, but his former slave owners, Moses and Susan Carver, rescued and purchased George back from the kidnappers, eventually adopting him and his brother James since he mother was lost. As a child, Carver was frail and often ill, which kept him from heavy farm labor, while allowing his interest in plants to flourish. He would walk miles to attend a one-room schoolhouse and eventually graduate from Iowa State Agricultural College to become the first Black student and faculty member there. He later joined Tuskegee Institute of Alabama at the invitation of Booker T. Washington, where he would work for 40 years. Carver became famous for his work with peanuts and sweet potatoes, developing hundreds of products such as peanut oil, plastics and dyes. Believing they were gifts from God to benefit all humanity, Carver refused to patent his inventions. Carver was a devout Christian whose faith profoundly influenced his life and work. He converted to Christianity at the age of ten and remained a lifelong churchgoer, teaching Bible studies for 30 years and emphasizing Christian morality in his teachings. Carver often spoke of his relationship with God, stating that his scientific insights were divinely inspired. He believed that faith and science were complementary and once said: “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ”Carver also acknowledged God in his own success in agriculture by saying: “The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths".