Inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame in 2003
George Washington Carver’s* horticultural talents were recognized at a young age. In 1891, he became the first black to enroll at Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. His studies exposed him to the hands-on and minds-on methods of teaching youth and farmers and to his potential for serving his fellow man. He graduated from Iowa State College in 1894 and accepted a position there as a botanist.
He went to Tuskegee Institute in 1896 at the invitation of Booker T. Washington to establish an agriculture school. At Tuskegee, he gained
an international reputation in research, teaching and outreach; his work
in agriculture and nutrition is legendary. Carver brought the Iowa State Extension concept to Alabama in 1906, creating the “Jesup Agricultural Wagon,” which brought practical agricultural knowledge to farmers. His teaching at the institute and outreach into farms brought new scientific agricultural principles to farm life and formed the foundation for modern-day Extension and 4-H.
*deceased
