George Washington Carver: A Life

This is one of the few scholarly works on Mr. Carver. Ms. Vella gives a good sense of Carver's personal history and for that she is to be commended. One area of concern is labeling Mr. Carver as 'bisexual' due to a particular relationship between himself and a young man. No doubt this relationship existed, but labeling Mr. Carver a 'bisexual' strikes me as an unnecessary injection of contemporary sexual politics into an otherwise clear-headed history. Another concern is that one does not get a clear sense of Carver's scientific contributions and how they affected American agriculture. I think this is a weakness as Mr. Carver's national prominence was based upon his scientific work and the practical uses to which they were put. Even a chapter dedicated to this aspect of Mr. Carver's life and work would have provided the reader with more historical insight into why Mr. Carver was famous.

There is a saying that anyone can make something from something, but it takes a true master to make something from nothing. Carver started with absolutely nothing as a slave boy. He and his mother were kidnapped, and he didn't see his mother again. It was due to his persistence and great fortitude that he became well-educated. Then, he had to have the patience of a saint to stay at Tuskegee despite all the privations and mistreatment to which he was subjected. Despite this, he rose to national prominence as a creative, unorthodox, genius scientist. I have tremendous admiration for George Washington Carver, and I find his achievements inspirational!

Revealed information that I found in none of the other nine nooks I had read about GWC. I am hoping all was fact with no embellishments.

We have lived near Tuskegee for nearly a half century and this makes his presence there seem all the more real. We just wish we had known him. We certainly do cherish him, and Cristina Vella does an excellent job of bringing his life to life.

The book really made Booker T. Washington, George Bridgeforth and J. H Washington look evil. It also made the Council for Tuskegee look bad. The book was a good book but awfully negative, for the most part. Under the circumstances it is even more of a miracle that George W. Carver stayed at Tuskegee and accomplished anything of value. G.E. Carver was in my opinion a great scientist and even better person. I would, if in the same situation, have left Tuskegee before the first year was done, however he did not, and still accomplished all he could with what they reluctantly provided him to work with. Many who judge GWC on his scientific ability are, in my opinion, in error because he transitioned from a well equipped laboratory at Iowa State College, to a barn with poor facilities and no equipment and still accomplished what he did. I still take my hat off to one of the greatest scientist and most wonderful man of science, nature and God that ever graced the earth. He made something from nothing and wrote his bulletins for people of the lowlands of life, not other academics. He submitted thousands of mycological specimens to a number of states and still was called unscientific by some. I know of no other academic professional that garnered the same number of awards and recognition of one George W. Carver. J. H. Pickle, Jr., Ph.D.