1. Who are you? (Name, Age)
2. Where are you? (Location in USA)
3. What is the date?(a specific date as well as one contemporary event from the periods to give your narrative historical context)
4. In your experience, does our democratic government establish equality among Americans? (Explain your answer)
5.What are the challenges to equality that you or those around you experience? How are those challenges overcome?
August 23, 1941 Tuskegee, Alabama Now that I, George Washington Carver, am approaching my elderly years, I can finally say with satisfaction that I have served my purpose to my years of research. I have dedicated my entire life’s work to helping the poor black farmers in the south survive the poor southern agricultural economy brought on by the harsh conditions of the Civil War. Through years and years of research and experimenting at Tuskegee, Alabama, I have come up with the solution for farmers in the south. Soil-enriching crops such as peas, soybeans, sweet potato, and most of all, peanuts were crops that I introduced to farmers. I found that these crops could produce marketable items such as shampoo, peanut butter, milk, cheese, dyes, soap, linoleum, flour, molasses, cosmetics, rubber, and ink. Back in 1914, beetles were destroying cotton fields across the south, and the agricultural economy was worse than ever. That was when I decided to introduce the new market that I had in mind with my soil-enriching crops. More and more farmers were rotating their crops to the market of my soil-enriching crops. This was the first time in my life where I finally felt like I was making a difference in humanity. I was born into slavery in 1864 during the Civil War in Diamond Grove, Missouri. When I was a young infant, my mother and I were abducted by Confederates slave raiders and taken away from the plantation of my owner, Moses Carver. Moses found and reclaimed me at the end of the Civil War in 1965, but my mother had disappeared. As a young boy, I had a dream to become a scientist one day and to serve humanity. However, at the time, this was an impossible dream. I grew up with racism and cruelty holding me back from my dream. I couldn’t go to school and get an education. Therefore, I learned to read, write, and draw from Moses and his wife, Susan. I then grew an interest in nature. My neighbor’s gave me the nickname, “plant doctor.” When I was 12 years old, I left the plantation is search of a good education. I attended schools for black children. As I got older and wiser, it was difficult to find a college due to racial barriers. In my late twenties I became to first black student at Simpson College in Iowa. I became so eager to specialize in science that I transferred to Iowa Agricultural College in 1891. That is where I received my BS (Bachelor of Science) in 1891 and my MS (Master in Science) in 1894. Later, I taught chemurgy and soil conservation as the first black teacher at Iowa College. In 1896, I left Iowa to continue my research of chemurgy in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was there where I changed the entire southern agricultural economy with my idea for a new market with new soil-enriching items. Today, I am living here in Tuskegee proud of what I have accomplished in my life. However, it was a long and hard journey to achieve my dream indeed. In my earlier years, America’s government treated me as if I were no more important than animal. My mother had lost her life because of our government’s inability to create equality within its citizens. Black men and women are faced with challenges on the road to achieve their dreams while white men and women have unfair advantages on this road. I hope that I have helped America realize that any man can achieve his dream and that he should be able to reach for that dream no matter the color of his skin. I hope that one day America will create equality within all men and women. Until that day, I know that I can die peacefully because I know that I have done all that a black scientist could possibly do to serve humanity. Today, I am donating all of my life savings to establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee so that I may continue my research and influence younger boys and girls to achieve their dreams and serve humanity just like I have done. -Jack Period 4
Work Cited Web Site: Bellis, Mary. "George Washington Carver." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventors/a/GWC.htm. Book: Bond Horace Mann. African American Biography. Danbury, Connecticut: Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006. Print. Web Site: "George Washington Carver Biography." Biography.com. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://www.biography.com/articles/ George-Washington-Carver-9240299?part=2. Web Site: "Hall of Fame; Inventor Profile." invent.org. National Inventors Hall of Fame, 2002. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/ 30.html. Book: Rogers, Teresa. George Washington Carver, Nature's Trailblazer. Frederick, Maryland: Twenty First Century Books, 1992. Print. -Jack Period 4
August 23, 1941
ReplyDeleteTuskegee, Alabama
Now that I, George Washington Carver, am approaching my elderly years, I can finally say with satisfaction that I have served my purpose to my years of research. I have dedicated my entire life’s work to helping the poor black farmers in the south survive the poor southern agricultural economy brought on by the harsh conditions of the Civil War. Through years and years of research and experimenting at Tuskegee, Alabama, I have come up with the solution for farmers in the south. Soil-enriching crops such as peas, soybeans, sweet potato, and most of all, peanuts were crops that I introduced to farmers. I found that these crops could produce marketable items such as shampoo, peanut butter, milk, cheese, dyes, soap, linoleum, flour, molasses, cosmetics, rubber, and ink. Back in 1914, beetles were destroying cotton fields across the south, and the agricultural economy was worse than ever. That was when I decided to introduce the new market that I had in mind with my soil-enriching crops. More and more farmers were rotating their crops to the market of my soil-enriching crops. This was the first time in my life where I finally felt like I was making a difference in humanity.
I was born into slavery in 1864 during the Civil War in Diamond Grove, Missouri. When I was a young infant, my mother and I were abducted by Confederates slave raiders and taken away from the plantation of my owner, Moses Carver. Moses found and reclaimed me at the end of the Civil War in 1965, but my mother had disappeared. As a young boy, I had a dream to become a scientist one day and to serve humanity. However, at the time, this was an impossible dream. I grew up with racism and cruelty holding me back from my dream. I couldn’t go to school and get an education. Therefore, I learned to read, write, and draw from Moses and his wife, Susan. I then grew an interest in nature. My neighbor’s gave me the nickname, “plant doctor.” When I was 12 years old, I left the plantation is search of a good education. I attended schools for black children. As I got older and wiser, it was difficult to find a college due to racial barriers. In my late twenties I became to first black student at Simpson College in Iowa. I became so eager to specialize in science that I transferred to Iowa Agricultural College in 1891. That is where I received my BS (Bachelor of Science) in 1891 and my MS (Master in Science) in 1894. Later, I taught chemurgy and soil conservation as the first black teacher at Iowa College. In 1896, I left Iowa to continue my research of chemurgy in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was there where I changed the entire southern agricultural economy with my idea for a new market with new soil-enriching items.
Today, I am living here in Tuskegee proud of what I have accomplished in my life. However, it was a long and hard journey to achieve my dream indeed. In my earlier years, America’s government treated me as if I were no more important than animal. My mother had lost her life because of our government’s inability to create equality within its citizens. Black men and women are faced with challenges on the road to achieve their dreams while white men and women have unfair advantages on this road. I hope that I have helped America realize that any man can achieve his dream and that he should be able to reach for that dream no matter the color of his skin. I hope that one day America will create equality within all men and women. Until that day, I know that I can die peacefully because I know that I have done all that a black scientist could possibly do to serve humanity. Today, I am donating all of my life savings to establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee so that I may continue my research and influence younger boys and girls to achieve their dreams and serve humanity just like I have done.
-Jack Period 4
Work Cited
ReplyDeleteWeb Site: Bellis, Mary. "George Washington Carver." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
2010. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventors/a/GWC.htm.
Book: Bond Horace Mann. African American Biography. Danbury, Connecticut: Scholastic
Library Publishing, 2006. Print.
Web Site: "George Washington Carver Biography." Biography.com. Encyclopedia Britannica,
Inc., 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://www.biography.com/articles/
George-Washington-Carver-9240299?part=2.
Web Site: "Hall of Fame; Inventor Profile." invent.org. National Inventors Hall of Fame,
2002. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/
30.html.
Book: Rogers, Teresa. George Washington Carver, Nature's Trailblazer. Frederick,
Maryland: Twenty First Century Books, 1992. Print.
-Jack Period 4