George Washington Carver: A Life

by Christina Vella

Christina Vella received a PhD. in Modern European and U.S. history from Tulane University, where she is a Visiting Professor. A consultant for the U.S. State Department, she lectures widely on historical and biographical topics.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Science, Biography Memoir, Agriculture, Nature

682 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2015

About the author

Christina Vella was a writer, historian of modern Europe, and adjunct professor at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Her first book, Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of the Baroness de Pontalba, was entered for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. It was published by Louisiana State University Press in 1997 and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and The Times-Picayune. It chronicles the life and career of Micaela Almonester, the woman responsible for building the Embassy of the United States in Paris and the Pontalba Buildings in New Orleans. In 2003, Intimate Enemies was adapted by Thea Musgrave as the opera Pontalba, which premiered in New Orleans in October of that year.

Vella's later books include The Hitler Kiss: A Memoir of the Czech Resistance (2002), co-authored with Radomir Luza, and Indecent Secrets - The Infamous Murri Murder Affair (2006), a history of the Murri murder trial which took place in Bologna, Italy in 1905.

Vella received her Ph.D. in European and U.S. history from Tulane University in New Orleans. A professor of history for over twenty years, she now devotes most of her time to writing and lecturing. She frequently serves as a consultant and writer for the U.S. Department of State.

She is the recipient of the 2010 Preservation Award from the Foundation for Historical Louisiana.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Embarrassingly I’ve never heard of George Washington Carver until I heard his name on the show “Oz”. I wasn’t even aware of him being the “peanut guy”.

A man who was born a slave changed the world with his agricultural innovations. What an extraordinary man.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most Southern children, I had a vague sense of the scientific accomplishments of George Washington Carver -- 300 uses for a peanut, right? I'm so glad that I read this book -- I had no idea how interesting he truly was! Vella is by no means a neutral biographer -- she calls it like she sees it, rather than trying to present the facts with no authorial commentary. (She totally had me when, describing how Carver was unable to attend the school in his area because of his race, she acidly comments that the school catered to its white mediocrities at the expense of its one black genius. Yep, that's about the size of it. Carver goes on to commute many longer miles to attend a school that would take him.) I had no previous idea about the complicated tension of his working relationship with Booker T. Washington, or how underfunded within Tuskegee his programs were at the time, or how often he had to flee racially motivated violence. His accomplishments are all the more impressive given the scarcity of the resources he was working with! I also had no idea about his mystical religious tendencies, or that he was bisexual and fell in love with a man across racial lines at a time when even the thought of that would get you killed. But the most engaging part of the book for me was the constant exploration of his character, mild and kind, curious and determined. He must have had legendary patience to persevere through the difficulties he encountered without table-flipping and telling everyone off, heh. He's undoubtedly a heroic figure, and in a mold that doesn't look a lot like what we tend to value in American society now. He's quiet rather than assertive, patient rather than pushy, submissive rather than alpha-wolf. And he got so much done, both for science and for the South. For sheer effective good done in the world, one could do much worse than to model one's self after George Washington Carver.

[Derrick Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellently researched book about a man who has been reduced to being “the peanut guy”. It explores his incredibly humble upbringing, his tumultuous relationship with Booker T. Washington, and his odd relationship with Henry Ford. It goes in depth into his work and his faith and sheds light on the almost cultish devotion that his students had to him. There is a look at one his relationships with a former protege that leads us to believe the older man had a fondness for the younger that went beyond mere mentorship, the author goes out of her way to not slander either party. A fascinating look into a great man’s life.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carver’s list of accomplishments and inventions is really amazing; much more than just a man who worked with peanuts. He was a pioneer in researching and inventing different uses of plants with the goal of helping his African American brothers get out of poverty. He has a really interesting story worth reading. This book sometimes seems to branch off and focus on other people however I enjoyed learning more about Booker T. Washington, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford to name a few.

[Brad Linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story of an amazing mind. What moved me most was Carver's ability to guide his research toward serving needs: i.e. as he observed farmers struggling in his community, he sought out (and readily shared) ideas for what type of crops would grow best in the particular soil of the area, what methods would help produce the most abundant crops, and what inventive ways could those crops be utilized to serve the families' needs.

This book was also interesting because it paints a pretty frustrating portrait of Booker T. Washington, someone who I'd otherwise only heard described heroically. One can't help but wonder how much Carver's work was ultimately stifled by Washington.

[Read 2021]

[Michael Tatum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rate this two stars, not because of the subject but because of the author's penchant for writhing things as she wanted them to be instead of just writing the facts that her research uncovered. So many "he must have", or "surely". In other

Still the book was interesting because Carver was such an interesting person.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of information on the life of Carver with many quotes from letters. I think we get a good sense of what Carver was like, warts and all. We also get a good view of Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee and how Carver fit in. I found it a cumbersome read, but worth sticking with it to get the picture of a time and a man.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. A bit scattered toward the end. Knowing so little about this amazing person until now has been my loss.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it's a bit of happenstance that I chose to read a modern biography of Carver at this point in time, I would note that it would have been hard to avoid him as an exemplar of the "safe" Black man at the time when I was in primary and secondary school. Also, though I really didn't think about the man for a long while, I suppose that at the back of my mind I've had the question of just how much of an exemplar Carver really was.

Vella, however, does make a strong case that Carver remains a great exemplar. This is considering his humanity, intellectual engagement, and commitment; perhaps too much commitment. While Booker T. Washington badly wanted Carver as a trophy hire for the Tuskegee Institute, the real guts of this book is how Vella documents the remarkably poor treatment that Carver received while on the school's payroll. The fact is that Carver only really flourished as a researcher once Washington passed on, as opposed to merely being the nominal manager of the school's agricultural operations. There is a whole constellation of reasons for this, but Washington was under pressure from the trustees to make the school pay for itself, whereas Carver was trying to run an experimental farm. In trying to do everything, and Washington trying to keep up appearances, nothing was done well; Washington cuts a remarkable shabby figure as an institutional leader in this telling.

From there, and the last third of Carver's life, Vella examines how the man went from being an obscure regional figure to becoming a national treasure; much helped by Carver's unlikely friendship with Henry Ford.

Going forward from this exercise, I find that I really do need to study more about the long-running conflict between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, which Carver was on the fringes of.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Washington Carver: A Life by Christina Vella- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the biography of George Washington Carver, an Afro-American agricultural scientist. George Washington Carver was just a young child, he had a secret: a garden of his own. Here, he rolled dirt between his fingers to check if plants needed more rain or sun. He protected roots through harsh winters, so plants could be reborn in the spring. He trimmed flowers, spread soil, studied life cycles. And it was in this very place that George’s love of nature sprouted into something so much more. His hard work in the field was the light for his bright future. The book showcases his curiosity and love for nature from his earliest days after being born into slavery in 1864. He tended a secret garden and learned an incredible amount of knowledge from trial and error. He learned how to sew, make dyes, create medicine from plants and leaves. At the age of 12, he moved away from his childhood home and traveled through several states continuing to learn about art and agriculture. He was the first Black man to graduate from Iowa Agricultural College and he went on to teach agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. On the very last page of this book, we are left with a final thought, which appeared to be his mantra: "Regard Nature. Revere Nature. Respect Nature." The back matter includes a timeline of Carver's life, along with a bibliography and selections for further reading. Coloured illustrations help the reader in relating to the story.

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written and probably too-well researched, especially in consideration of the "private" letters that were published within this book and used to speculate and read things into the lives of Professor Carver and his friends. The speculation, in particular, was completely unnecessary and this is easily a 4-star book without it.

Aside from that, I found Carver's life to be compelling and also heartbreaking in consideration of the way he was oppressed by his colleagues at Tuskegee, surprisingly led by the efforts of Booker T. Washington, who practically begged Carver to leave Iowa State in order to come to the upstart Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and then (Washington) spent the rest of his life making it unreasonably difficult for Carver to carry out his life's work by refusing to fund his laboratory or professional needs, in spite of the fact of available funds.

It is absolutely amazing to consider what Carver was able to do with almost no help whatsoever. I can't help but wonder what more Carver could have accomplished if he had either stayed at Iowa State or if he had had someone to champion his efforts and provide even adequate financial support at Tuskegee.

[Dacy Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing bio of George Washington, the details from his time at Tuskegee were incredible and gave a lot of depth to the person he was. I learned that Carver, though famous for his work with the peanut, had just as many uses for the sweet potato and may have invented a cure for polio. His relationship with Booker T. Washington, though rocky, provided the impetus for how Washington carried himself throughout his life. I have no doubt that Carver, using the little resources that he had in life, accomplished more that any other US born scientist. Living through the end of slavery and the time of segregation limited a lot about what people actually knew about the man, but this all began to come into light throughout this biography. I hope to visit many of the sites in Missouri and Alabama that Carver has had dedicated to him.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful, detailed look at an amazing man. I started this book with some hesitation as I had read that the author made a claim that Carver was bisexual. But as I read, I saw that this opinion was just that, an opinion based on assumptions and speculation. Carver was a dedicated, patient, loving, incredible man with a huge heart for lifting his people, and all people, to a higher place. Even when faced with open hostility due to his color, he met it with grace and dignity and this won people over to who he was and what he believed in, be it his science or his faith or both. This was well worth the time invested in the reading.

[Matthew Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book randomly at library in town we just moved to. There was a lot more to the man than how he seems to be remembered today, with simple references to “the peanut man”. Enjoyed learning of his humble beginnings, struggles for an education and his devoted life work. An extraordinary man of many talents and interests, who achieved much with little.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written biography of one of the greatest of Americans. Born a slave, raised by poor white foster parents he rose to heights of fame that almost no one attains from such humble beginnings. This is a thorough a biography that one can find about who the man was.

[Scann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very unfortunate metaphors for writing about a black person. Several times she deviated a lot from the main character. The end could have been shorter.

[Chris Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was an amazing man!

[? · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Salt of the Earth"

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is a good biography of an incredible man. There are so many difficulties with a biography of a man like Carver. Beginning his life in slavery, he never knew when he was born, not even the year. In addition, Carver was a humble man who never blew his own horn but kept a voluminous correspondence with (it seems) anyone and everyone who wrote him. Vella does a commendable job giving a survey of many of these letters. She also does a good job with the uncertainty of Carver's early life. She tells what we know, and what we suspect. When there are multiple conflicting versions available, she shares them and discusses the probability of each.

I was impressed by the overall organization of the book. Each chapter takes us further in Carver's life, yet is still topical enough. There is obviously considerable overlap, but you don't feel jerked around from one time or topic to another. At the same time, some of the paragraph-level organization seemed awkward. Half a paragraph may discuss one story, then we get a sentence with extra details about a minor character, then the rest of the paragraph suddenly moves in a different direction. In my mind, that should be two paragraphs, and maybe even put the extra-detail sentence in parenthesis or a footnote.

I received a copy of this book for free from the GoodReads FirstReads program. Thank you!

[Jean Mehochko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about this man. The book made me wish I could have met him.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was quite a man smart tolerant the book was telling about his incredible ability to be nice to all that what I found to be the thing I found that most interesting because he was tested

[Nathan Ko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not think this was the right book but I couldn't find it. I mean it was not bad after all, it was a good book but I do not think I will read this again.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written--fascinating story of an inspiring person!

[Rondy Bentley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an influence for good

Reading this book, and learning how he lived and loved people, will change anyone who reads it. It has changed me.