Who Was George Washington Carver?

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Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black professor. He went on to the Tuskegee Institute where he specialized in botany (the study of plants) and developed techniques to grow crops better. His work with vegetables, especially peanuts, made him famous and changed agriculture forever. He went on to develop nearly 100 household products and over 100 recipes using peanuts.Jim Gigliotti is a freelance writer based in Southern California. A former editor at the National Football League, he has written more than 50 books for all ages. His writing credits include biographies for young readers on Olympian Jesse Owens and baseball star Roberto Clemente.

Who Was George Washington Carver?
 
Mrs. Baynham looked out at her garden, but she didn’t like what she saw. Mrs. Baynham lived in the biggest house in Diamond Grove, Missouri, in the mid-1870s. Inside the house, everything was in order: pretty paintings and nice furniture. But outside, in the garden, her roses weren’t blooming.
 
Why not? she wondered. Her friend Susan Carver’s roses were blooming. Her roses were big and beautiful—and bright red! Mrs. Carver lived on a nearby farm. Mrs. Baynham went over and asked what her secret was to growing such perfect flowers.
 
“It’s our George,” Mrs. Carver said. “He’s the one who knows about roses.”
 
George was the ten-year-old boy who lived with Mrs. Carver. She was his foster mother. Mrs. Carver had been taking care of George since he was a baby. And George had been taking care of Mrs. Carver’s plants and flowers.
 
Actually, George helped out around the farm in many ways. He loved Mrs. Carver as if she were his own mother. He would have done just about anything she asked. But he was especially happy when she asked him to help with her garden.
 
So George went over to Mrs. Baynham’s house to take a look at her roses. He knew right away what was wrong. Her roses needed to be moved to a different part of the garden, where they could get more sun. He moved the plants, and soon they were in full bloom!
 
Word spread quickly. And young George started helping many of Mrs. Carver’s friends
with their plants and flowers. One week, a neighbor needed help with her lilies. Another week, a friend asked for help with her begonias. George always seemed to know how to fix whatever problem there was. Soon, he became known as “the Plant Doctor.”
 
George never lost that helpful spirit, nor his love for plants and the best way to grow them. He was George Washington Carver, and he used his passion for nature to become one of the most famous, and helpful, scientists in the world.

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