Born in 1864 as a slave on the farm of Moses Carver in Diamond Missouri. He was taught to read by Moses Carver, and being a frail child, was taught by Susan Carver to work in the kitchen and garden. He was taught to make herbal medicines, and began experimenting with natural pesticides, soil conditioners, and fungicides. Local farmers began to come to George for suggestions and so he was soon referred to as the 'Plant Doctor'. He managed to be sent to school, and eventually graduated from Minneapolis High School in 1880. He set his sights on college. Over the next few years, George worked at a variety of jobs. In 1888, George enrolled as the first black student at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He was the first African American student to earn his Bachelor of Science in 1894. His professors were so impressed by his work on the fungal infections common to soybean plants that he was asked to remain as part of the faculty to work on his master’s degree (awarded in 1896). In April 1896, Carver received a letter from Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute, and the rest is history. Carver was determined to use his knowledge to help poor farmers of the rural South. Carver settled on peanuts because it was a simple crop to grow and had excellent nitrogen fixating properties to improve soil depleted by growing cotton. The amount of products he derived from peanuts alone is mind-boggling. Carver died on Jan. 5, 1943. I felt it was time to honor one of my lifetime heroes by doing his portrait.