Monday marks the beginning of a week-long celebration at Iowa State to pay tribute to George Washington Carver, an internationally renowned scientist and the first African-American student to attend Iowa State.

Carver studied at Iowa State College from 1891 to 1894 before later becoming the first African-American faculty member and researching at the College Experiment Station.

Born in the 1860s, Carver spent his childhood as a slave before enrolling in Simpson College in the late 1880s to study piano and painting. It was here that he was encouraged by Etta Budd, whose father was head of the Iowa State College Department of Horticulture, to pursue horticulture and enroll in Ames.

“He overcame great odds to accomplish great things,” said Eugenio Matibag, interim director for the Center for American Intercultural Studies. “We’re holding the celebration to do our part to keep his memory alive.”

Carver’s work ultimately led him to create 325 different products from peanuts, more than 100 products from sweet potatoes and hundreds more from a dozen other plants native to the South, offering alternative crops to cotton.

Despite his significant contributions, Matibag said there are still many people on campus unfamiliar with his works.

Mazen Abdelbasir, freshman in pre-articulture from Sudan, said he was unaware of Carver’s legacy.

“I didn’t know that he came here,” Abdelbasir said. “He’s an encouragement, I guess, for all minorities to go to college and graduate from high school.”

Abdelbasir said he thinks Carver’s namesake building, Carver Hall, shows appreciation for him and reminds passersby of his accomplishments.

Matibag said Carver was a well-rounded student, excelling in art, music and poetry along with being a great scientist and plant doctor.

“I think it’s really important that he did a lot of stuff,” said Antwon Chavis, freshman in sociology. “It’s huge. It gives me something to strive for.”

Chavis said as a recipient of the George Washington Carver Scholarship, he has learned about the life of Carver in special classes. Chavis said he would not have attended Iowa State without the scholarship.

“The scholarship helps me remember him,” Chavis said. “Most minority communities know the story of how he got here, but the white community may not know what the big deal is about.”

Chavis said he wants to help people the way Carver has.

The week is a smaller-scale version of the year-long celebration that took place during the 1998-99 academic year, Matibag said.

“We want to keep alive the memory of George Washington Carver,” Matibag said. “He emerged from slavery, beating the odds of poverty and racism, and triumphed in getting an education.”