Dubbed the ‘black Leonardo’ by Time Magazine in 1941, George Washington Carver was an agriculturalist, botanist, and artist. His remarkable story, from slavery to a distinguished professor, is of a life devoted to helping his fellow black Americans.
In his early years, Carver and his family were kidnapped to be sold in another state. He returned, albeit only with his brother. As a boy, Carver was fascinated with how the natural world worked and felt a spiritual connection to God through nature. He fled town as a teenager, following the murder of a black man. He then stayed with several foster families while pursuing an education.
This led him to Iowa State Agricultural College, where he gained a master’s degree in 1896. That same year, Carver was approached to chair the agriculture department at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He received a letter of invitation from Booker T. Washington, the institute’s principal, and the foremost black activist of that period. Washington campaigned for black Americans to have an industrial education, learning trades to benefit their futures.
Alabama was known for cotton production. As a labour-intensive crop, it was often farmed and picked by enslaved people. After slavery ended, many former enslaved people worked the land as sharecroppers. They did not own the land but would make money from a small share of the crop. As a result, many remained poor.
Carver sought to help his students to get more money from the land. Cotton was known to deplete the soil of nutrients. Through community campaigns, he encouraged farmers to regenerate their soil by planting peanuts and soybeans. He also proposed a wide range of uses for these crops so the farmers could make as much profit as possible.
Most celebrated scientists are Nobel Prize-winning PhDs – Carver had neither. Improving black lives was his legacy. Few scientists can boast such a legacy by dispensing simple science to the masses. Carver’s extraordinary story reminds us that science should be used to benefit others.
Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu (1947-):
Born in 1947 to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, Anionwu had a turbulent upbringing. She spent much of her childhood either in Catholic institutions or with her mother & stepfather, facing strict punishments from both.
She began working as a nurse at age 16 and specialised in sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia, both of which are inherited blood conditions. She had to travel to America to take courses in this, as no such option existed in the UK.
Both conditions are inherited diseases that disrupt the function of haemoglobin in red blood cells. SCD is associated with episodic pain and anaemia. Thalassemia has a range of symptoms, including heart palpitations, anaemia, and pale skin. SCD disproportionately affects black people. An estimated 80% of cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. 1 in 4 people with West African ethnicity and 1 in 10 Afro-Caribbeans have sickle cell trait, meaning they are carriers of the disease. Thalassemia is also most commonly found in ethnic minority groups from the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa. Both conditions can be life-limiting. SCD and thalassemia affects an estimated 15,000 people in the UK and 1,000 thalassemia cases in England. Until Anionwu set up the first sickle cell and thalassemia counselling centre in 1979, there was little expertise on SCD. At that time, SCD wasn’t viewed as a ‘British problem’, as incidence of SCD in the predominantly white, pre-Windrush population was so low. Speaking to the Guardian in 2020, Anionwu highlighted how these prejudices remain. She cited greater funding for cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition predominantly affecting white people, than SCD despite higher incidence of SCD.
Following the success of the first clinic, there are now SCD & thalassemia centres across the country. Anionwu went on to have a prestigious career in academia, establishing the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London. She had campaigned to raise the profile of Seacole, a fellow black nurse who treated deadly infections in Jamaica and Panama and worked on the frontlines of the Crimean War. Once largely forgotten, Seacole is now commemorated with a statue outside St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Seacole was also added to the UK’s National Curriculum in 2007 thanks to Anionwu’s efforts.
Much like Carver, Anionwu’s legacy is that of compassion and determination to solve injustices in their communities through the power of science.
