My Corner Online

George Washington Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver National Monument is a national park located at 5646 Carver Rd, Diamond, Newton County, Missouri. There are six other national parks in Missouri, being the 1) St. Louis Arch, 2) Harry S Truman National Historic Site, 3) Ozark National Scenic Riverways (which is the Current River and Jacks Fork River which is all over this website), 4) Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park (Historic Ste. Genevieve), 5) Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (which is in St. Louis and I need to get there to visit it), and 6) Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.

We arrived late in the day on June 24, 2023, and I had very little time before the place closed for the day to explore. There was a huge museum which I was not able to go through, but a kind park employee guided me for a quick lesson on why George Washington Carver was so important that a national park would be created in his honor. He was born at this location into slavery and rose to make his mark in the world as a scientist, educator, and humanitarian. His name of "Carver" comes from his slave owner. George is known as the "plant doctor." After the Civil War when the cotton crop was in such bad shape, he encouraged farmers to rotate their crops with soybeans and peanuts to restore the soil. The farmers needed a reason to plant soybeans and peanuts, and George created over 300 uses for peanuts. You can hear more in the above video. One product, for instance, is peanut milk, which was also sent to a tribe that was dieing, which was a humanitarian effort as well. He managed to combine his desire and efforts to help people with his knowledge of nature and science, to teach people. How amazing is that! Take your gifts of talent and your calling in your heart and combine them together to be something in this world.

We visited his birth place and then listened to the bust of his head which played his actual voice in a graduation speech in 1942. I recorded it on the above video so take a listen. I actually took away a lot from our short visit. I discovered that George is also often quoted and many of the quotes spoke to me. I would like to take time to learn more about George and ponder quotes of him. "You've arms and legs and a brain to use." "God has equipped you for life, but He Lets you decide what you want to be." "Get ahold of yourself and say I can."
There were many trails at this park and I could have taken some beautiful hikes or walks if I had more time and it were cooler.