George Washington Carver – Blackbird and Company

orphaned: to be a child whose parents have died
eager: wanting to do or have something very much
passionate: showing or caused by intense feelings of love
enslaved: to lose one’s freedom of choice or action; to be made a slave
feeble: lacking in physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness

When George saw Mrs. Baynham’s roses he knew straight away that they needed to moved into the sun. (Pg 3)
One night when George was an infant asleep in the cabin, the farm was attacked by bushwhackers and his mother and brother were stolen away. (Pg 8-10)
When Jim and George were left without a father or mother, Moses and Susan determined to give the boys a family. (Pg 13)
George was often excused from the heavy-duty work on the farm because he was often sick and not very strong. (Pg 18/19)
Whem George wasn’t working or playing he enjoyed taking long walks in the fields and woods talking to the plants and flowers, and taking care of them. (Pg 22)
When George was thirteen he left home because he wanted to go to the town of Neosho, which had a school for black children. (Pg 27)
When George arrived in Neosho he noticed that the town was much larger than Diamond Grove and that about 1 in 8 people were black. (Pg 33/34)

resolute: admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering
agreeable: enjoyable and pleasurable
generous: showing a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected
thrifty: using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully
visionary: thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom

Although George Washington Carver had been accepted to Highland College, when he went on campus to enroll he was told he could not attend because he was black and the school didn’t accept non-white students. (Pg 45)
Sod is made of pads of grass with the roots still attached to the dirt. (Pg 47)
The Milhollands encouraged George to apply to Simpson College to study art. (Pg 52)
Miss Budd was impressed with how much George knew abouthorticulture, the science of fruits, vegetables, and flowering plants. (Pg 55)
After graduating from Iowa State in 1891, George was the first black man to join the faculty as an assistant teacher of botany. (Pg 00)
Booker T. Washington asked George to head a new Department of Agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute. (Pg 64)
When considering taking the job offer at the Tuskegee Institute, George considered whether this job would allow him to fulfill is goal of being of the greatest good, to the greatest number of his people. (Pg 65-65)

resourceful: having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties
disciplined: showing a controlled form of behavior or way of working
mentor: an experience and trusted advisor
attentive: to pay close attention to something; attending to the comfort or wishes of others
inventor: a person who devises a particular process or device, or invents things as an occupation

When George’s students lacked laboratory tools he encouraged them to use what they found around them. They often went to junk yards! (Pg 66)
George wrote booklets on how to grow tomatoes, raise hogs, preserve meat and how to improve the appearance of one’s land and home. (Pg 70)
Before George began to study peanuts they were mostly used for animal food. (Pg 77)
George suggested that farmers plant sweet potatoes because they were easy to grow, were easily stored, could be eaten many different ways and were good for the soil. (Pg 79/80)
George’s most famous booklet is “How to Grow the Peanut, and 105 Ways Preparing It For Human Consumption.” (Pg 82)
George became known as a “creative chemist,” because he remade a product for any different uses, the peanut. (Pg 90)
George donated his life savings to start the George Washington Carver Foundation because he wanted others to continue his work at the Tuskegee Institute even after he was gone. (Pg 96)