The George Washington Carver Monument and Carver Discovery Center
If George Washington Carver could see the children flocking to the Carver Discovery Center, he wouldn’t be surprised. A child born into slavery, Carver once lived on the farm that continues to inspire and build confidence in students of all ages.
Carver was a frail boy and was not required to help with heavy farm chores. He spent days investigating insects, tree bark, leaves, ferns, seeds, and talking to wildflowers in the woods and farmland of Moses and Susan Carver. Today, that 1918 farm is the George Washington Carver National Monument.
A new interactive Carver Discovery Center will guarantee the legacy of the curious little boy who talked to flowers. “Carver’s George” left the farm and set out on his own at age 10, just so he could go to school. Determined to learn, he struggled to get an education, suffering poverty, prejudice, humiliation and starvation.
George Washington Carver spent so much time kneeling while examining – and talking to plants that his pants were always bagged at the knees. He usually wore an old tweed suit with baggy knees, and always, always a bright, fresh flower on his lapel.
Those up close plant observations and conversations, lead to discoveries that revolutionized agriculture in the South. A “Cotton is King” economy that brought power and wealth to the South was depleting the soil.
Heavy-feeding cotton plants stripped the soil of its mineral resources and left an infertile land unable to grow cotton. Small farmers were ruined. Big business moved to new ground, cutting and burning virgin forests for new, fertile cotton-crop acres. Then, the boll weevil arrived in the 1890s and the farming South faced bankruptcy.
First among Dr. Carver's list of discoveries was the peanut, a restorer of worn-out soil. “Plant peanuts,” Carver said. “That’ll keep the soil productive. And the boll weevils don't attack peanuts.”
Pod-bearing plants, he explained, drew nitrogen from the air and enriched the soil. Farmers began to rotate their crops as Carver advocated the use of legumes to replace minerals taken from the soil by cotton growing. Soon the farmers were producing peanuts in great abundance. But the solution of one problem brought another. How could all those peanuts be turned to profit?
Experimenting in “God's little workshop,” his Tuskegee laboratory, Carver set about the work that made him famous. He discovered nearly 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes.
Later, Dr. Carver told the story behind the discovery of peanut by-products. He asked the Great Creator, “Dear Mr. Creator, please tell me what the universe was made for.” The Great Creator answered, “You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask for something more your size.” Then he asked, “Dear Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for.” Again the Great Creator replied, "Little man you still are asking too much. Cut down the extent of your request and improve the intent.” So then he asked, “ Please Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?”
Quiet and humble, Carver was not widely known for his agricultural research until 1915 when Theodore Roosevelt praised him during the funeral of Booker T. Washington. By 1920 with the growth of the peanut market in the U.S., the market was flooded with peanuts from China. That year, southern farmers came together to plead their cause before a Congressional committee hearing on the tariff. Carver was elected to speak at the hearings. He explained some of the many uses he had found for the peanut. Initially given ten minutes to present, the now spellbound committee extended his time again and again. The committee rose in applause as he finished his presentation. Now Carver was famous. Within a year, a tariff was placed on imported peanuts.
Business leaders sought his help and he always gave it to them without a price. He told farmers, students, businessmen, “If I know the answer you can have it for the price of a postage stamp. The Lord charges nothing for knowledge and I will charge you the same.”
He was a friend of three presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Luther Burbank, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs were among his friends. The Crown Prince of Sweden studied with him; Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi came to learn from Carver.
His best-known American guest was Henry Ford who built a laboratory for Carver and conducted research with him there as well. Their most notable discovery together was regarding the fabrication of rubber. Carver also did extensive work with soy, which he and Ford considered as an alternative fuel. Thomas Edison invited Carver to go work with him for 175,000 dollars per year; he graciously declined.
Despite Carvers’ honors, doctorates, citations, medals, and lavish worldwide praise, for 47 years, he repeatedly refused to accept an increase in his $125 monthly Tuskegee salary. Carver’s scientific ability was rooted in continual curiosity, a love of God and nature and a driving desire to help his fellow man.
Carver died January 5, 1943 at the age of 79. On his grave is written the summary of his life: “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” He is buried beside hid friend Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama.
On July 14, 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument; the first national monument dedicated to an African-American.
At the October, 2006 dedication, George Washington Carver will be there in spirit. His advice bears repeating, “Look about you. Take hold of the things that are here. Let them talk to you. You learn to talk to them.”
He believed in hands on and interactive learning. He believed education and knowledge should be available to all. He believed, “Since new developments are the products of a creative mind, we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible.” The George Washington Carver Discovery Center is that kind of place. No entry fees. No admission charges. Limitless learning.
George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, scientist, educator, and humanitarian. The Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., the grounds are open until dusk. The Carver National Monument hosts the interactive Carver Discovery Center, a museum, a greenhouse an audiovisual presentation depicting Carver's life and work. A ¾-mile, self-guided trail passes the birthplace site, the restored 1881 Moses Carver house, the family cemetery, and the woods and streams where Carver spent his boyhood. (Closed January 1, Thanksgiving, December 25) Phone (417) 325-4151.
Getting There:
The monument is located two miles west of Diamond, Missouri, on Highway V, then ½-mile south on Carver Road.