Des Moines Register
08-09-07
Further Carver's Iowa legacy by helping youth
SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER
Iowans have a new reason to feel proud of the role their state played in the
development of a young man who arrived in Iowa in 1890.
On Wednesday, George Washington Carver National Monument, in
southwest Missouri, formally dedicated its new 18,000-square-foot museum,
theater and interactive Discovery Center. One hopes this center will prompt
greater celebration of not only Carver but other selfless individuals like him who
have extended the limits of human discovery.
When Carver was about 30, he came to Winterset and began studying at
Simpson College in Indianola. He received bachelor's and master's of science
degrees from Iowa Agricultural College, now Iowa State University. He later
joined Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama as director of
agricultural research, studying the then-new crops of soybeans and peanuts.
Thus began a lineage of acclaimed agricultural researchers with ties to Iowa and
a demonstration that the lives each person touches can make a difference in the
world in unimagined and profound ways.
Three weeks ago, Cresco native Norman Borlaug received the Congressional
Gold Medal, thus becoming one of only five individuals to have received it, the
Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yet, as pointed out
by Jonathon Alter in Newsweek, hardly anyone seemed to notice. Those of us
who did notice recognized how worthy Borlaug is of this honor and lamented why
his and other stories are not reaching our youth.
I had the pleasure of hearing Borlaug speak in 2002. With tears welling in his
eyes, he talked about how Iowa's Henry A. Wallace inspired him. This intrigued
me because I knew that Henry A. Wallace, the former secretary of agriculture
and vice president during Franklin Roosevelt's third term, had been inspired by
Carver.
Wednesday's dedication of the Discovery Center should encourage us to reflect
on how the citizens of Iowa welcomed and encouraged Carver and to consider
ways each of us can work individually and collectively to help today's young
people blossom, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity or socio-economic
status.
Though Carver was a creative genius, what makes him really special was that he
had his priorities in the right place: He strived to benefit others, often putting
society's well-being above his own financial well-being.
Many people know that Carver created more than 300 uses for the peanut, but
many do not know that he used his birth in slavery, his status as an orphan,
childhood illnesses and racism as motivation and that those circumstances
informed all of his later work. He overcame so much without any hint of self-pity
and achieved so much without any hint of self-congratulation.
Carver was a man both for and ahead of his time. Ford Motor Co. recently
announced that it will be using soy-based foam as opposed to petroleum-based
foam in seat cushions of its 2008 Mustang. Carver promoted this idea in the
1930s and visited with Henry Ford on the matter in Dearborn, Mich., in 1937.
While there are any number of actions one can take to encourage and inspire
youth of today, here are just a few possibilities:
- Plan a trip to Carver National Monument, or any site dedicated to showing the
fullness of history and how the lessons of yesterday can be applied to today. The
monument is the first unit of the National Park System created to honor an
educator or an African-American, and it's the first birthplace monument to anyone
other than a U.S. president.
- Take a group of neighborhood kids to the library and introduce them to the
Sojourner Truths, the Lucretia Motts and the Thomas Edisons, the people who
really made a difference.
- If you're an artist, share your craft with others, and encourage them to pursue
their interests. While I can't promise you any financial compensation, I can
promise that you might just encourage youngsters to expand their horizons,
explore their options and see that a world of opportunity awaits them, if only they
set the right goals and follow the right examples.
PAXTON WILLIAMS, a graduate of Iowa State University, is executive
director of the George Washington Carver Birthplace Association, the
nonprofit cooperating association to George Washington Carver National
Monument.