Published On: 10.08.17 | 

By: 9316

On this day in Alabama history: George Washington Carver arrived in Tuskegee

Oct 8 feature

Researcher and inventor George Washington Carver (front and center) poses with staff members of Tuskegee Institute's agricultural department in 1906. Under Carver's direction, the school worked to bring modern agricultural practices to rural African-American farmers in central Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Library of Congress)

October 8, 1896

Botanist and inventor George Washington Carver arrived in Tuskegee to direct the agricultural school at the Tuskegee Institute. Known as the “Peanut Man,” Carver earned international fame for his innovative use of alternative crops to cotton, including peanuts and sweet potatoes. He geared his work in Tuskegee to the “man farthest down” and brought extension resources and techniques to farmers through the Tuskegee Institute Movable School. Carver received many awards and honors, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP. He was inducted into the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame, and the George Washington Carver Museum in Tuskegee commemorates his life and achievements.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.