Aiming for Excellence, Facing Inequality

George Washington Carver

Dr. George Washington Carver pioneered the Department of Agriculture at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (later known as Tuskegee University) for 47 years. He devoted his research to helping poor southern farmers (farming low quality soil depleted of nutrients after decades of cotton and tobacco planting) innovate crop rotation systems and sustainability practices. Once the boll weevil destroyed cotton crops in the early 20th century, many farmers turned to peanuts. Dr. Carver’s widespread outreach and teaching about various uses for peanut— including food products, lotions and shaving creams— helped save the southern U.S economy. His ingenuity garnered the attention of Henry Ford, who invited Carver to work at his company. Carver chose to remain at Tuskegee and nurture the next generation of African American scientists.