Editor’s note: This is the second profile of a noted African-American with Iowa State connections. The Daily is running four profiles, on Monday’s, in light of February’s Black History Month activities.

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George Washington Carver was the son of Mary, a slave purchased by Moses Carver for the price of $700.

His father was reported to have been a slave on a nearby farm where he was killed in an accident before George Carver’s birth. Like many slaves, Carver was uncertain of his birth date. Biographers list the year as anywhere from 1859 to 1864.

One fateful night, Carver’s immediate family members were attacked in their slave home, kidnapped and sold to another plantation owner. Only Carver, a frail and sickly baby, was left behind to be raised by his owner.

Carver grew up on Moses and Susan Carver’s small, self-sufficient farm in Missouri. Because of his honesty, the Carver’s gave him the name George Washington.

Although quiet and shy, early reports indicate that Carver had a hunger for learning, but his color prevented him from attending school.

Carver’s adoptive parents hired him a tutor, but Carver left home at just 10 years of age, searching for a better education. He moved in with a black family to attend the nearest school for African-Americans.

Carver then hitched a ride to Fort Scott, Kan., after discovering that his teachers had little more knowledge than he. He supported himself by laundering, cooking and, at one point, farming for two years in Kansas. According to published biographical information, he longed for college.

His race prevented it.

Carver was finally admitted to Simpson College in Indianola in 1890. As an art major, Carver was the only African American enrolled. Etta Budd, his Simpson College art instructor — also the daughter of the head of the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State College in Ames — convinced him that a black man could not make a living in art.

He came to Iowa State in 1891. Carver lived in North Hall during his first years as a horticulture student. He worked in a campus dining room and as a masseur for the athletic teams.

Carver became a symbol for integrated colleges.

Kyle Pierce is a current senior in chemical engineering and chairman for the Big Eight Conference on Black Student Government. Pierce, a recipient of the George Washington Carver scholarship, said Carver stood for change.

“George Washington Carver started the integration of diversity and many now are continuing to carry the same torch as Carver,” Pierce said.

John Anderson, interim director of university relations said the George Washington Carver scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship given to ISU minority students.

During his tenure at Iowa State, Carver became, arguably, the most recognized black scientist in history.

“George Washington Carver is one of our most prominent alumni, if not the most prominent,” Anderson said.

As a student, Carver was a member of the YMCA and the Welch Eclectic Society, an organization for the development of science, literature and public speaking. He used his artistic talents to entertain by singing, playing musical instruments and reading.

He also wrote poetry that was eventually printed in the Iowa State Daily’s predecessor, the Iowa Agricultural College Student.

As a botanist, Carver is also known for his work with plants at Iowa State — breeding one plant that is still used in the Department of Horticulture.

Michael Chaplin, today’s horticulture department chairman, said Carver was involved in the breeding of the Carver rose, a popular rose type. The Carver rose is displayed in ISU’s Reiman Gardens.

“We have maintained the germ plasm of the rose all these years. We have maintained the integrity of the rose’s genes,” Chaplin said.

Carver compiled such an impressive academic record that after he received his Bachelor of Agriculture degree in 1894, he was hired as a botany assistant to pursue post-graduate work.

After receiving a master’s of agriculture degree in 1896, Carver was placed in charge of the greenhouse and taught freshmen students.

Known as an expert in mycology (the study of fungi) and plant cross-fertilization, Carver could have remained at Iowa State.

But in 1896, he accepted Booker T. Washington’s offer to head the agricultural department at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.

Carver had intended only to stay at Tuskegee a few years before pursing his love for art or a doctorate in botany. Instead, he remained there until his death in 1943.

Carver never married, but did create a family of many students considered to be “adopted children” to whom he provided financial and personal guidance.

But George Washington Carver wanted more than to simply be a respected and outstanding educator. He wanted to help his people.

It was going to be science that saved the farmer, Carver said. He went to work in his lab and discovered that only the peanut will grow in the tired earth and help heal the soil. Farmers immediately took Carver’s advice and the peanut market flooded. Prices fell to almost nothing.

Carver, who continued with his quest to help the farmer, went back to his lab. It was during this time that he invented more than 300 products from the peanut, which earned him national recognition as the “Peanut Man.”

Derrick Rollins, diversity adviser to ISU President Martin Jischke’s cabinet, said he is impressed with Carver’s scientific desire to make a difference in the lives of African-Americans.

“His research was driven by unselfish motives. He had a strong conviction to come up with an alternative farm product to cotton for his people,” Rollins said.

Rollins said Carver was one of the first to prove that “science knows no color.”

— Information for this article was gathered in Parks Library’s archives collection.