The Giver of Wisdom

“And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” [1.Kings 4:34]

Born of slave parents in Diamond Grove, Missouri, George Washington Carver was rescued from Confederate kidnappers as an infant. He began his education in Newton County in southwest Missouri, where he worked as a farmhand and studied in a one-room schoolhouse. Throughout his formal education, Carver was the only African-American student at each school he attended. An excellent student, he thrived in the educational environment, impressed his teachers, and went on to earn a master’s degree from Iowa State College.

Carver is perhaps to this day the nation’s best known African-American scientist. In the period between 1890 and 1910, the cotton crop had been devastated by the boll weevil. At Tuskegee Institute, Carver had developed his crop rotation method, which alternated nitrate-producing legumes – such as peanuts and peas – with cotton, which depletes the soil of its nutrients.

Carver advised the cotton farmers to cultivate peanuts. Following Carver’s lead, southern farmers soon began planting peanuts one year and cotton the next. While many of the peanuts were used to feed livestock, large surpluses quickly developed. Carver then invented over 300 different uses for the extra peanuts – from cooking oil to shampoo, from milk to printer’s ink.

When he discovered that the sweet potato and the pecan also enriched depleted soils, Carver found almost 20 uses for these crops, including making synthetic rubber and material for paving highways. His accomplishments earned him world renown as a plant expert, scientist, and inventor, and he received many honors.

While some people, such as George Washington Carver, seem to have an extra measure of wisdom, we can all increase our wisdom. The Bible clearly identifies the true source: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). God wants us to have wisdom. His Word tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

George Washington Carver had great faith in God and knew Jesus as his Savior. He was also a humble man. Because he understood that all wisdom comes from God, he rightly gave God the credit for all of his skills, talents, and accomplishments.