George Washington Carver, a distinguished agricultural researcher, revolutionized the Southern economy. His development of products from crops such as peanuts and soy beans helped the South shed its dependence on cotton.
From peanuts alone, he derived more than 300 products among them, soap, ink, flour, dyes, cosmetics, cheese and milk. He was born a slave in Missouri in 1864. He and his mother were abducted by slave raiders when he was born.
He was bought back by his owner, but his mother was never found. In 1886, Booker T. Washington offered him a post at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where Carver spent the rest of his life doing research. Carver never patented any of his many discoveries.