Black History Month: George Washington Carver Wednesday, February 22, 2012 By Jessica Durant George Washington Carver - Vanderbilt University Advertising         George Washington Carver is most famous and most easily recognized by his discovery of over 300 uses for the peanut and created 145 peanut products. George was born into an enslaved family, so his exact birth date is not entirely known; however, his traditional birth date is January 5, 1864.         George and his mother were kidnapped by Confederates and taken to Arkansas when he was young. His father, Moses Carver, found and reclaimed George some time later and took him to a neighboring farm, but his mother was not rescued. The new farm was where George discovered his passion for nature and earned his nickname “Plant Doctor.”     George, originally only planned on peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes being a less costly alternative to planting cotton. This way farm families could plant it, sell it, and consume it for themselves as well. Then George, knowing people would want to eat the peanuts, began finding things that people could make out of peanuts to improve their lives. That’s when he began his work with different uses for the peanut. Carver made coffee, soap, massage oil, beverages, and more - all from peanuts.         George lived and did most of his studying in Tuskegee, Alabama. There he taught at the Tuskegee Institute for 47 years. He taught methods of crop rotation, and introduced several alternative crops, which included peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. George produced information that proved that growing one of these crops could restore and nourish the land it is planted on.

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