Ala. Code § 1-2-44 (1975) State Legume

• Library: Alabama Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current with legislation from the 2023 Regular and Special Sessions.

(a)

The Legislature finds all of the following:

(1) George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and inventor who developed hundreds of products using peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. Born into slavery a year before it was outlawed, Carver left home at a young age to pursue an education and would eventually earn a Master's Degree in Agricultural Science from Iowa State University. He would go on to teach and conduct research at Tuskegee University for decades.

(2)

Born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, the exact date of Carver's birth is unknown, but it is thought he was born in January or June of 1864.

(3)

At a young age, Carver took a keen interest in plants and experimented with natural pesticides, fungicides, and soil conditioners. He became known as "the plant doctor" to local farmers due to his ability to discern how to improve the health of their gardens, fields, and orchards.

(4)

In 1894, Carver became the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science degree. Impressed by Carver's research on the fungal infections of soybean plants, his professors encouraged him to pursue graduate studies. In 1896, Carver earned his Master of Agriculture degree and immediately received several teaching offers, the most attractive of which came from Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

(5)

Washington convinced the university's trustees to establish an agricultural school and Carver accepted the offer to run the program and would work at Tuskegee Institute for the remainder of his life. Carver taught there for 47 years, developing the department into a strong research center and working with two additional college presidents during his tenure. He taught methods of crop rotation, introduced several alternative cash crops for farmers that would also improve the soil of areas heavily cultivated in cotton, and initiated research into crop products.