George Washington Carver

==College education==
[[File:Carver1web.jpg|thumb|200px|Carver at work in his laboratory]]

Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at [[Highland University]] in [[Highland, Kansas]]. When he arrived, they refused to let him attend because of his race.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = [[Capstone Publishers|Compass Point Books]]| location = [[Minneapolis, MN]]| isbn = 978-0756518820| last = Burgan| first = Michael| title = George Washington Carver: Scientist, Inventor, and Teacher| date = 2007| page = [https://archive.org/details/georgewashington0000burg/page/37 37]| url = https://archive.org/details/georgewashington0000burg/page/37}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] |location=[[Santa Barbara, CA]]| isbn = 978-0313347962| last = Kremer| first = Gary R.| title = George Washington Carver: A Biography| date = 2011|page=21}}</ref> In August 1886, Carver traveled by wagon with J. F. Beeler from Highland to Eden Township in [[Ness County, Kansas]].<ref name="skyways">[http://skyways.lib.ks.us/counties/NS/gwcarver.html George Washington Carver: Scientist, Scholar, and Educator] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212103355/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/counties/NS/gwcarver.html |date=February 12, 2009}} from the "Blue Skyways" website of the [[Kansas State Library]].</ref> He [[Homestead Act|homesteaded]] a claim<ref>Southeast Quarter of Section 4, Township 19 South, Range 26 West of the [[Sixth Principal Meridian]], Ness County, Kansas.</ref> near [[Beeler, Kansas|Beeler]], where he maintained a small conservatory of plants and flowers and a geological collection. He manually plowed {{convert|17|acre|m2}} of the claim, planting rice, corn, [[Indian corn]] and garden produce, as well as various fruit trees, forest trees, and shrubbery. He also earned money by odd jobs in town and worked as a [[ranch hand]].<ref name="skyways"/>

In early 1888, Carver obtained a $300 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=300|start_year=1888}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) loan at the Bank of [[Ness City, Kansas|Ness City]] for education. By June he left the area.<ref name="skyways"/> In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at [[Simpson College]] in [[Indianola, Iowa]].<ref name="simpson">{{cite web |title=George Washington Carver
|url=https://simpson.edu/dunn-library/archives-special-collections/george-washington-carver |access-date=February 1, 2021
|publisher=[[Simpson College]] |work=Dunn Library Archives & Special Collections
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016085253/http://www.simpson.edu/library/research/carver.html |archive-date=October 16, 2008 |url-status=live}}
</ref> His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver's talent for painting flowers and plants; she encouraged him to study [[botany]] at [[Iowa State University|Iowa State Agricultural College]] (now Iowa State University) in [[Ames, Iowa|Ames]].<ref name="simpson"/>

When he began there in 1891, he was the first black student at Iowa State.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/george-washington-carver/biography|title=George Washington Carver Bio|website=Digital Collections, Iowa State University|language=en-us|access-date=November 19, 2018|archive-date=February 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205021632/http://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/george-washington-carver/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> Carver's bachelor's thesis for a degree in Agriculture was "Plants as Modified by Man", dated 1894.<ref name="BSthesis0">{{cite web |url=http://cdm16001.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15031coll7/id/287/ |author=Geo. W. Carver |title=Plants as Modified by Man. |year=1894 |access-date=February 18, 2015 |archive-date=February 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218094553/http://cdm16001.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15031coll7/id/287/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/distinguished_alumni.php|title=Distinguished Alumni|website=Iowa State University, Office of Admissions|language=en|access-date=November 19, 2018|archive-date=July 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701203848/https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/distinguished_alumni.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Iowa State University professors Joseph Budd and [[Louis Pammel]] convinced Carver to continue there for his [[master's degree]].<ref name=":0" /> Carver did research at the Iowa Experiment Station under Pammel during the next two years. His work at the experiment station in plant [[pathology]] and [[mycology]] first gained him national recognition and respect as a botanist. Carver received his Master of Science degree in 1896.<ref name=":1" /> Carver taught as the first black faculty member at Iowa State.

Despite occasionally being addressed as "doctor", Carver never received an official [[doctorate]], and in a personal communication with Pammel, he noted that it was a "misnomer", given to him by others due to his abilities and their assumptions about his education.<ref name=doctorate>{{cite book |last1=Kremer |first1=Gary |title=George Washington Carver: A Biography |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=115}}</ref> Though he did not have an earned doctorate, both Simpson College and Selma University awarded him [[honorary degree|honorary]] [[doctor of science|doctorates of science]] in his lifetime.<ref name=doctorate/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Abrams |first1=Dennis |last2=Adair |first2=Gene |title=George Washington Carver: Scientist and Educator |date=2008 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |page=104}}</ref> In addition, Iowa State awarded him a posthumous [[doctor of humane letters]] degree in 1994.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kremer |editor1-first=Gary |title=George Washington Carver: In His Own Words, Second Edition |date=2017 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |location=Columbia, MO}}</ref>