George Washington Carver
In 1941, Time magazine named George Washington Carver the “Black Leonardo,” referring to him as an African-American Leonardo da Vinci. Like da Vinci, he had excelled in several disciplines and had a fertile, inventive mind. He is best known for his work with peanuts. He created around 100 new products from them ranging from plastics to cosmetics, and 150 new recipes using peanuts. But there is so much more that he did. He worked to make former slaves self-sufficient, he was a university teacher and researcher, he created mobile schools to train farmers, worked to improve racial relationships, wrote poetry, and painted. And that’s just some of what he did. But informing all his work was a thorough knowledge of Scripture and an understanding of God’s place in the world.
Carver was ten when he became a Christian. He was born into a slave family and heard about Sunday school from a white boy. He heard about the prayers and songs sung to God, and he set out to follow that example on his own. As he grew he studied the Bible and came to the conclusion that faith was an agent of change. He believed that faith was not consistent with ignorance, so instead of hiding from knowledge, he became a student. He also believed that through Jesus there was the power to break down racial discrimination and social classes. It was also within the Christian community that he found the support and encouragement to pursue his goals.
Racial segregation, prejudice, and violence toward African-Americans made education difficult, but Carver was determined to develop his gifts. He was able to attend High School. During that time he developed a love for working with plants and for painting.
It took him five years to get accepted into a college. When he arrived at the first college that accepted him, Highland College in Kansas, he was rejected because they didn’t accept black students. In 1887 he was finally accepted at Simpson. He was their second African-American student. He transferred in 1891 to Iowa State Agricultural College. He was their first African-American student and later became their first black faculty member. It was during his college years that his gifting in agriculture was recognized and he was encouraged to pursue a career in that field.
In 1896, he was invited to teach at Booker T. Washington’s school, Tuskegee University. He remained there until his death 47 years later.
In addition to his agricultural studies, Carver was known by the students for his knowledge of the Bible. They asked him to begin Bible classes, and he accepted the offer. He was as concerned about the students’ character as their intellectual pursuits. He would teach, “When you do common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”
Carver saw no conflict between his science and his faith. He believed in a Creator God who had built order into reality that could and should be studied. He also believed that the Larger Reality of God’s perspective was necessary in order to apply science correctly. Without that perspective science would only serve the rich and powerful rather than benefit the whole of humanity. He said, “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour,” and “My prayers seem to be more of an attitude than anything else. I indulge in very little lip service, but ask the Great Creator silently daily, and often many times per day to permit me to speak to him through the three kingdoms of the world, which he has created, viz.—the Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable Kingdoms; their relations to each other, to us, our relations to them and the Great God who made all of us. I ask him daily and often momently to give me wisdom, understanding and bodily strength to do His will, hence I am asking and receiving all the time.”
George Washington Carver believed that God spoke to him through his research and guided him through his life, and that he had a responsibility in return, “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.