George Washington Carver Day
George Washington Carver Day of Recognition Program - February 1, 2024
On George Washington Carver Day in Iowa, Carver’s life and legacy live on as a potent symbol of courage, perseverance and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Join Iowa State University in celebrating the second annual George Washington Carver Day of Recognition, February 1, 2024.
In-person event:
Durham Great Hall, ISU Memorial Union
5 p.m. - Registration
5:30-6:50 p.m. - Program
Agenda
- 5:00-5:30 p.m. – Registration/Meet and Greet
- 5:30 p.m.-6:50 p.m. – Program
- Welcome - Dan Robison, Endowed Dean’s Chair, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presentation: Iowa State University Food Insecurity Challenge – Student Leaders
- Keynote Address, "A visit with Professor George Washington Carver" – Paxton Williams, Attorney, Belin McCormick, PC
- Remarks: Rolundus Rice, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President for Student Affairs, Tuskegee University
- Remarks: Jay Byers, President, Simpson College
- Remarks: Reflecting on the Legacy of George Washington Carver -
- Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, Emeritus President, World Food Prize Foundation
- Simon Estes, F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist-In-Residence, Iowa State University Department of Music and Theatre
- 6:50 p.m. – Closing Remarks – Dan Robison, Endowed Dean’s Chair, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Program speakers
Keynote Address:
Paxton Williams, Attorney, Belin McCormick, PC
Additional Remarks:
Dan Robison, Endowed Dean’s Chair, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Rolundus Rice, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President for Student Affairs, Tuskegee University
Jay Byers, President, Simpson College
Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, President Emeritus, World Food Prize Foundation
Simon Estes, F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist-In-Residence, Iowa State University Department of Music and Theatre
Carver's Legacy
Carver’s story is one of extraordinary resiliency. Born into slavery in Missouri around 1864, he sought higher education in Iowa, at Simpson College and Iowa State University. He was Iowa State’s first Black student, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After graduation, he became Iowa State’s first Black faculty member.
Carver left Iowa for the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he spent the rest of his life applying his innovative genius to agriculture. He became world renowned for creating hundreds of products made from peanuts, sweet potatoes and other native Southern crops.
A kind and patient teacher, Carver showed farmers how alternative crops and practices could benefit their bottom line and sustain their land. He took practical knowledge gained from science and delivered it to those working in the fields and rural areas.
Carver died in 1943. He received many honors during his life and after his death, including election to the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, and an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Iowa State.
It has been said of Carver that he wanted to turn the ugly into the beautiful and the wasteful into the useful, so that even “the poorest of God’s creatures” would be healthier, their homes more comfortable, their surroundings more beautiful and their lives more significant.
In Iowa, on Feb. 1, the reason to celebrate his legacy is to remember and honor George Washington Carver’s work ethic and inspiring innovation, and to help young people understand the extraordinary opportunities in science — and life.
Download the George Washington Carver Day poster
Click below to download the poster:
Learn more about George Washington Carver, his connections to Iowa State University, to the state of Iowa, and to the nation and world:
- Feb. 1 will be George Washington Carver Day in Iowa
- View three exhibitions honoring George Washington Carver, organized by University Museums and on display February-July 2024
- Watch the livestream of the Feb. 1, 2023, George Washington Carver Day program
- View the readings of Carver's work recited during the 2023 program
- See the list of Carver-inspired touches that were a part of the 2023 program
- George Washington Carver, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Office of Inclusive Excellence
- George Washington Carver Summer Research Internship Program, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- George Washington Carver, University Library Digital Collections, Iowa State University
- Celebrating George Washington Carver: Artwork in University Museums Collection, Iowa State University
- George Washington Carver: An Uncommon Life
- Simpson College George Washington Carver Day Celebration, Feb. 1, 2023
- George Washington Carver Collection, Dunn Library, Simpson College
- The Legacy of Dr. George Washington Carver, Tuskegee University
- George Washington Carver National Monument, National Parks Service, Diamond, Missouri