Biography depicts Carver as scientist and symbol

There are dozens of biographies in print about George Washington Carver, many written for youth audiences and most highlighting his importance as a black scientist and peanut and sweet potato researcher.

Linda McMurry's 1982 biography, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Symbol, is a refreshing contribution to the body of literature about Carver because she utilizes her perspectives as a historian to form a more complete, more complex picture of the man and the myths that emerged from his life and work. From his difficult beginnings as an orphaned former slave to his later successes, McMurry offers sufficient detail to provide a believable human portrait of Carver.

Carver, a well-known alumnus of Iowa State University, is being featured this year as one of the themes for the university (see sidebar). McMurry's volume provides an engaging review of Carver's experiences at ISU and how Iowa State's extension innovations provided a springboard for Carver's enduring success as an outstanding teacher and researcher at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Carver's dedication to principles commonly associated today with "sustainability" may come as a surprise to some. McMurry goes to great lengths to demonstrate the key philosophy around which Carver built much of his work, that "nature produced no waste, therefore so-called waste products result from man's failure to apply his intelligence to the use of natural resources."

Carver was an advocate for the underdog. In his first experiment station bulletin in 1898, Carver declared that the goal of the station was that "neither time nor expense will be spared to make our work of direct benefit to every farmer." He further dedicated himself to nontechnical language wherever possible and to explaining concepts to ensure that his materials were understood by lay audiences.

Where McMurry really shines is in bringing Carver the educator to life. Through recounting of numerous anecdotes, she shows how Carver's humanitarian side was part of what fueled his success as a communicator. McMurry writes that despite Carver's frequent administrative run-ins with Tuskegee head Booker T. Washington, the latter conceded that Carver was "a great teacher, a great lecturer, a great inspirer of young men and old men." The legion of dedicated students whose lives he touched over the years bears testament to his talent as a teacher and communicator.

McMurry credits Carver as a magnificent interpreter and humanizer of science who provided a critical link between researchers and lay audiences. "An evaluation of the true significance of his research is best reserved for the discussion of his philosophy and values," she writes.

The picture that emerges from McMurry's research is a credible, impressive image of a man full of contradictions and idiosyncrasies who managed to use his considerable talents in bringing the need for agricultural stewardship and innovation to the fore. McMurry summarizes in the final chapter, "The world needs its pure scientists and research chemists, but it also needs its Carvers, who try, however imperfectly, to fit the pieces together to serve both man and his environment."

That's a goal that Aldo Leopold might have heartily seconded.

--Anne Larson, Communications specialist

Return to the Fall 1998 Leopold Letter Index