Why was George Washington Carver famous? George Washington Carver was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. He was known as the plant doctor because he helped his friends and neighbors treat sick plants. He was a world-renowned chemist who made important agricultural discoveries and inventions. His research on peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other products helped poor farmers in the South vary their crops and improve their diets. George Washington Carver was born in January 1864 on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, in Newton County. He was born to Mary, who was owned by Moses and Susan Carver. However, George Washington Carver's father, Giles, was a slave on a nearby farm and died before he was even born. When George Washington Carver was just a month old, he and his mother were kidnapped by a band of men traveling through Missouri during the war. Civil War era. They hoped to sell them elsewhere, but George was picked up by a neighbor and returned to Mary and Susan. His mother was not. So Mary and Susan raised the two children as their own. George Washington Carver, however, was a sick and weak child. So while his brother Jim helps Moses with the farm work outside, George helps Susan with the household chores inside the cabin. He helped maintain the garden and became fascinated with plants. Susan even taught him to read and write, as no schools accepted black students at that time. When he was a teenager, he went to school in Neosho, Kansas. George finished his education in his early 20s and took up farming until he had enough money to attend Simpson College in Iowa. There he studied art and piano. But at Iowa State, George faced discrimination, he wasn't allowed to live or eat with the white students, so he ate his meals in the middle of a paper...... distribution of crop rotation to restore nutrients to the soil. Another accomplishment of his was finding all the different ways to use peanuts and sweet potatoes. George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943. He died of anemia and a long illness. He was also buried next to his friend, Booker T. Washington. The Washington Carver National Monument was built near his birthplace in Missouri. It was the first federal monument dedicated to a black person.Resources / Bibliography “Biography of George Washington Carver”. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, and Web. February 25, 2014. “George W. Carver (1865? - 1943). » George Washington Carver. Np, and Web. February 25, 2014. “George Washington Carver.” George Washington Carver. Np, and Web. February 26, 2014. “George Washington Carver. » History.com. A&E Television Networks, and Web. February 27. 2014.