ABOUT THIS BOOK

George Washington Carver (1864-1943), best known for his work as a scientist and a botanist, was an anomaly in his own time—a black man praised by white America.

This selection of his letters and other writings reveals both the human side of Carver and the forces that shaped his creative genius. They show us a Carver who was both manipulated and manipulative who had inner tensions and anxieties. But perhaps more than anything else, these letters allow us to see Carver's deep love for his fellow man, whether manifested in his efforts to treat polio victims in the 1930s or in his incredibly intense and emotionally charged friendships that lasted a lifetime.

The editor has furnished commentary between letters to set them in context.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Gary R. Kremer is Executive Director of The State Historical Society of Missouri. He is the author and editor of numerous works, including James Milton Turner and the Promise of America: The Public Life of a Post-Civil War Black Leader; Missouri's Black Heritage, Revised Edition; and George Washington Carver: In His Own Words (all University of Missouri Press). He lives in Jefferson City, Missouri.

REVIEWS

"These documents are carefully edited and arranged in proper context with very helpful and perceptive editorial comments, offering the opportunity for readers to study Carver, the man, in his own words....It is well done and will be of special interest to persons and libraries seeking authoritative material about black Americans."—Choice

"Kremer's excellent introduction and his detailed commentary between letters help put the correspondence into perspective. The result is a balanced look at Carver that retains the flavor of the scientist's story as told `in his own words.' ...The work adds to one's understanding of racial attitudes in the South while presenting an engaging portrait of this folk hero."—Georgia Historical Quarterly

"Kremer's background and transitional comments, along with Carver's writings, succeed in bringing Carver to life; helping readers to encounter, empathize with, and appreciate this complex, often contradictory man—egotistical and insecure, empirical and mystical, demanding and self-sacrificing."—Journal of Southern History

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Contents

Editorial Policy

Chronology

1. Introduction: Carver-the Man and the Myth

2. Self-Portraits: Carver's Self-Image over Time

3. The Pre-Tuskegee Years: Old Friends Remembered

4. The Tuskegee Plantation: Carver and His Coworkers

5. The Teacher as Motivator: Carver and His Students

6. The Scientist as Servant: "Helping the Man Farthest Down"

7. The Scientist as Mystic: Reading God out of Nature's Great Book

8. Carver: Black Man in White America

9. Carver and His Boys

Notes

Index

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