George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame
George Washington Carver was a world-famous chemist who overcame great obstacles. He made many important agricultural discoveries and inventions. His research on peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other products helped poor southern farmers vary their crops and improve their diets. He himself being raised as a slave, and conquering such tasks, raised his name as one for many others alike to look up to.
George Washington Carver was born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, in Newton County about 1865. Moses and Susan Carver owned his mother, Mary. His father, a slave on a neighboring farm, died before George was born. When George was just a few months old, a band of men who roamed Missouri during the Civil War era, kidnapped him and his mother from the Carver farm. These outlaws hoped to sell George and his mother elsewhere. Luckily, young George was recovered by a neighbor and returned to the Carvers, but his mother was not. Moses and Susan Carver raised George and his older brother, Jim as family. Jim helped Moses with farm work. George, who was frail and sickly, did not get to join them. He spent much of his time helping Susan with chores around the cabin. He learned how to perform many domestic tasks such as cooking, mending old clothes, and doing laundry. He also tended the garden and became fascinated with plants. Susan taught George to read and write at home. When he was about eleven, George went to Neosho to attend a school for African Americans. There he boarded with Andrew and Mariah Watkins, a childless black couple. He stayed in Neosho for at least two years until the late 1870s, when he decided to move to Kansas with other classmates and many others who were traveling west. Over the next ten or so years, Carver traveled from one Midwestern town to another, working and attending school. He often used his domestic skills to provide the money needed for school. By the late 1880s, George moved to Winterset, Iowa. A white couple, John and Helen Milholland,
George Washington Carver was born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, in Newton County about 1865. Moses and Susan Carver owned his mother, Mary. His father, a slave on a neighboring farm, died before George was born. When George was just a few months old, a band of men who roamed Missouri during the Civil War era, kidnapped him and his mother from the Carver farm. These outlaws hoped to sell George and his mother elsewhere. Luckily, young George was recovered by a neighbor and returned to the Carvers, but his mother was not. Moses and Susan Carver raised George and his older brother, Jim as family. Jim helped Moses with farm work. George, who was frail and sickly, did not get to join them. He spent much of his time helping Susan with chores around the cabin. He learned how to perform many domestic tasks such as cooking, mending old clothes, and doing laundry. He also tended the garden and became fascinated with plants. Susan taught George to read and write at home. When he was about eleven, George went to Neosho to attend a school for African Americans. There he boarded with Andrew and Mariah Watkins, a childless black couple. He stayed in Neosho for at least two years until the late 1870s, when he decided to move to Kansas with other classmates and many others who were traveling west. Over the next ten or so years, Carver traveled from one Midwestern town to another, working and attending school. He often used his domestic skills to provide the money needed for school. By the late 1880s, George moved to Winterset, Iowa. A white couple, John and Helen Milholland,