3 Lessons from George Washington Carver’s Humble Rise to Fame
While most of us know he had something to do with peanuts, George Washington Carver’s story is much more powerful than this aspect of his legacy.
I have been fascinated by Carver since reading Seven More Men by Eric Metaxas.
I have also been reading about critical theory and discovered Walmart’s critical race theory training program conducted in 2021. Their training taught that blacks:
- “have very limited choices.”
- “have a sense of limited possibility.”
Thankfully George lived by an entirely different worldview and developed:
- 265 uses of the peanut
- 100+ uses for the sweet potato
This is just a tiny glimpse into his hundreds of innovations.
Here is a summary of George Washington Carver’s story.
Quick Backstory
- Born a son of slaves in 1864.
- His father died in a farming accident, and his mother was kidnapped and never found when George was just a baby.
- George wasn’t expected to survive infancy as he constantly coughed and didn’t eat well.
The odds were against him.
- He grew up with a stutter and developed slowly.
- He couldn’t attend church or school because of his skin color. It broke his heart.
- He was admitted to college only to be told he was accepted because they didn’t know he was black and the college did “not take Negroes.”
The odds of George becoming the most famous black person in the world were not in his favor.
But George was an agricultural genius.
He was finally accepted into college and started in 1890, studying various environmental disciplines such as botany and zoology. He worked his way through college and even got a master’s degree.
“This line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.” — George Washington Carver.
After college, George could have pursued fame and fortune but chose a humble professorship position under Booker T. Washington to teach young black farmers.
Carver constantly gave away his time, energy, and money.
In his “free time,” he traveled across the country and was heartbroken to see fellow blacks in extreme poverty and hunger, farming only cotton, which exhausted the land.
So he published research and taught farmers how to farm using unusual resources such as leaf mold.
Fame came to George in 1921.
George stunned Congress when he presented a variety of innovations:
- peanut meat
- peanut candy
- peanut ice cream powder
And much more.
By 1930, George became the “most famous black man on the planet.” But growing up, George had every reason to believe he had limited choices.
But when Congress asked George how he learned everything,
George responded:
“The Bible. It says that God has given us everything for our use. He has revealed to me some of the wonders of this fruit of His earth. In the first chapter of Genesis we are told, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed upon the face of the earth, and every tree bearing seed. To you it shall be meat! There is everything there to strengthen, nourish, and keep the body alive and healthy.”
3 Lessons from George Washington Carver’s Humble Rise to Fame
I love George’s story because it teaches us about his belief in the Imago Dei (image of God). George knew he was hardwired to be a mini-creator, and our earth wouldn’t be the same without him.
George teaches us about:
- Resilience amidst adversity
- Potential beyond limitations
- Service over personal gain.
And much more. Thank God for George Washington Carver.