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Interesting US History
A Website Devoted to Interesting Events in U.S. History

 

 
 

 

ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

July 14, 1943

The George Washington Carver
National Monument is Founded

On this day in 1943, the George Washington Carver National Monument was founded in Joplin, Missouri. Funds for the project were dedicated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was the first national monument dedicated to an African American as well as the first to a non-President.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri in 1864 and was best known for his research on alternative crops to cotton (such as peanuts, soy beans, and sweet potatoes) mostly for poor farmers who could use the crops as a source of food as well as other products useful on the farm. He was considered to be a great scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. He died January 5, 1943.