Dr. George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver (1864-1943), United States, c. 1920.
Photographer unknown.
Africans possessed a rich, centuries-old heritage in science and technology
when the Atlantic Slave Trade began. This legacy continued in the Americas.
Black inventors made many significant to the sciences. With more than
1,000 patents, the inventions of African Americans have proven crucial
to the development of industry and agriculture in America.
Dr. George Washington Carver, known as the "peanut man" and the "wizard of Tuskegee," was born into slavery and became a pioneer in agricultural research and chemurgy. He headed Tuskegee Institute's Department of Agriculture for over forty years. His research revolutionized the agricultural industry in the South.
A draftsman, engineer, and inventor, Dr. Lewis Latimer worked with Thomas Edison on the incandescent light bulb and invented carbon filaments for the Maxim electric incandescent lamp, an invention for which he received a patent in 1881. He wrote Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System, published in 1890.