From Failed Farmstead to Professor

Today I visited the northeast corner of a quarter section land that once belonged to a famed scientist of the last century: George Washington Carver. Carver failed at farming in Kansas near the town of Beeler, but he became an famous botanist who saved the faltering economy of the South through his research on peanuts and sweet potatoes. One biography claims the prairie habitat was too strange and harsh for a man who grew up in eastern forests, thus he moved on. The reason he tried homesteading was his rejection from a small Kansas college because of his race. Carver was African American and the son of slaves. I am amazed by this man's tenacity and undefeatable spirit. I wish Kansas had been more hospitable for him. Yet, I take pride in knowing that a humble scientist spent time on the Kansas prairie recording insights into its flora and fauna. What a nice day trip!