George Washington Carver's enduring ideas

Even though my job title is Extension educator, my profession is agronomy. I have been an agronomist for 40 years. Not familiar with the term agronomy. The dictionary defines it as an application of various soil and plant sciences to soil management and crop production. Basically, it's anything related to growing a crop. An agronomist will have skills taken from botany, geology, chemistry, plant pathology, entomology, mathematics and genetics. Besides crops, an agronomist must be familiar with other areas of agriculture such as machinery, farm economics, livestock, drainage, molecular genetics and government policy. However, besides agronomy, I am a history enthusiast — particularly in relation to events, locations and people — which makes Ohio a great place to live. History was my favorite subject in high school and may be why I chose to be an agronomist which, as Paul Harvey would say, "is the rest of the story." One of the history units given in my high school was on famous individuals from Missouri, probably taught because the high school resided in Mark Twain country. Besides Mark Twain, we learned about Harry Truman, Omar Bradley, John Pershing, Walt Disney, J.C. Penney and George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver stuck out in my mind the most, a lesson in how a humble individual overcame so many challenges and made major contributions to American agriculture. He was born into slavery on a Missouri farm during the turbulent time of the Civil War in 1864 and rose to become a prominent citizen. As an infant, he and his mother were kidnapped when the farm was attacked by raiders. They were sold by the raiders in Kentucky. Moses Carver hired a neighbor to rescue them, but was only able to bring back George. George was now separated from his mother and had no immediate family. However, the Carvers raised George as part of their family and provided him an early education. George was frail and sickly as a child, so he worked around the home rather than the fields. He was known by local farmers for his knowledge about gardens, orchards and crops. George worked and continued his high school education at various Missouri and Kansas communities, graduating in 1880. He tried to attend college in Kansas but was turned down because of his color. He later moved to Iowa, where he was accepted by Simpson College in 1890. Simpson College and Ohio had a connection at that time. The president of Simpson College was Edmund M. Holmes (1889-1893). Holmes was born in Hardin County in 1859 and left with his parents for Iowa around 1870. His father, Jacob Meeks Holmes, had been a minister in Ohio for about 20 years at Methodist Episcopal churches in Dunkirk, Kenton and Findlay. Carver was a liberal arts major at Simpson College, but his aptitude for applied science — especially in plants — was discovered there. Professors recommended he consider the state agriculture school. In 1891, he became the first African American to enroll at Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Carver thrived at Iowa State and graduated with a BS degree in 1894. He continued as a graduate student. I could relate: I also completed my graduate training at Iowa State University, earning a doctorate degree in crop production and physiology. Part of my research was completed in what was called the "Old Botany" building at the time — the same building in which Carver completed his research. He did not haunt the halls, but his research was inspirational. After Iowa State, Carver made his name at Tuskegee Institute. He was ahead of his time in utilizing cropping methods to rejuvenate worn out soils and sustained agricultural production using new and alternative crops in rotation with existing systems. He is most known for finding new ways to use peanuts and other crops to increase their production and provide farmers an alternative to planting cotton. Development of these new crops allowed soils of the South to recover from years of only growing cotton. Carver thought it was important to be able to grow crops that could feed the local population and improve their economic situation. Besides peanuts, he worked with sweet potatoes, cowpeas and soybeans. He also investigated dandelions and goldenrods as alternative sources for rubber in the tire industry. Concepts developed by Carver are being utilized today. Many of his cropping practices are part of the "soil health" education programs being promoted to farmers today. Extension uses his outreach education method of bringing practices to the farm rather than making farmers go to the university. Even though agronomy was not the termed used at the time, George Washington Carver was an agronomy pioneer. His career at Iowa State University and the Tuskegee Institute contributed so much to the cropping systems used today. My decision to make a career in agronomy had a lot to do with understanding the history of his life and the contributions he made to agriculture. It is only fitting to review his contributions during National African American History Month. For those who like to visit the "off the beaten path" historical sites, they would enjoy a trip to the George Washington Carver National Monument and birthplace near Joplin, Missouri. The national monument was the first dedicated to an African American and the first to a non-president. Don't want to travel to Joplin? Consider the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center, http://www.blackheritagecenter.org/. It's one of Findlay's gems, located at 817 Harmon St. Lentz is Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources for the Ohio State University Extension Service in Hancock County.