User:Torey Gilroy/sandbox

Carver was born into slavery in Diamond Grove, Newton County, near Crystal Place, now known as Diamond, Missouri, possibly in 1864 or 1865, though the exact date is not known.[6][7] His master, Moses Carver, was a German American immigrant who had purchased George's parents, Mary and Giles, from William P. McGinnis on October 9, 1855, for $700. Carver had 10 sisters and a brother, all of whom died prematurely.[citation needed] When George was a baby, he had a disease called whooping cough, and it left him sickly, unable to do hard work like the other slaves. When George was only a week old, George, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by night raiders from Arkansas.[8] George's brother, James, was rushed to safety from the kidnappers.[8] The kidnappers sold the slaves in Kentucky. '''Moses Carver hired John Bentley to find them, but he located only the infant George. Moses negotiated with the raiders, offering a $300 racehorse, to gain the boy's return,[8] and rewarded Bentley.'''

Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at Highland College in Highland, Kansas. When he arrived, however, they rejected him because of his race. In August 1886, Carver traveled by wagon with J. F. Beeler from Highland to Eden Township in Ness County, Kansas.[9] He homesteaded a claim[10] near Beeler, where he maintained a small conservatory of plants and flowers and a geological collection. He manually plowed 17 acres (69,000 m2) of the claim, planting rice, corn, Indian corn and garden produce, as well as various fruit trees, forest trees, and shrubbery. He also earned money by odd jobs in town and worked as a ranch hand.[9] In early 1888, Carver obtained a $300 loan at the Bank of Ness City for education. By June he left the area.[9] In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.[11] His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver's talent for painting flowers and plants; she encouraged him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College in Ames.[11] When he began in 1891, he was the first black student, and later taught as the first black faculty member. Although he was a great educator, he frequently clashed with the administration. When he completed his B.S., professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel convinced Carver to continue at Iowa State for his master's degree. Carver did research at the Iowa Experiment Station under Pammel during the next two years. His work at the experiment station in plant pathology and mycology first gained him national recognition and respect as a botanist. Booker T. Washington offered George Washington Carver a position at Tuskegee.

Carter G. Woodson: ''' In 1908, he studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris where he became fluent in French. '''

'''Carter did not begin his education until he was 20 years old.  He was the second African American to earn a PHD at Harvard. '''