Dublin Core
Title
George Washington Carver (videos, text, and audio)
Subject
Carver was a brilliant botanist and conservation environmentalist known for his many agricultural inventions and the uplift of his race.
An urban legend places him as simply adoring or in an intimate relationship with his lab assistant, Austin W. Curtis Jr., a scientist in her own right with a specialty in chemurgy - the industrial use of plants.
The claim has garnered growing tangential 'evidence.' For example, carver's most recent and prolific biographer reports in an interview his second-hand knowledge that Carver's autopsy revealed a scar where he had been castrated. But the biographer could not place the time or circumstance when this would have occurred.
It is presumed castration could not have occurred when Carver was a child. He would not have grown tall and developed facial hair; yet, his voice was extremely high.
It is known that some transgender people, born male, have engaged in self-castration, but this theory gets no attention in the literature or memorials.
Carver could have done that and survived it given his intimate knowledge of plants useful in healing, but the reason why he might have done it is unclear. Without further evidence, he is presumed gay, but there is no proof he was gay and not trans. To keep his job at Tuskegee he would not have been able to live as a woman even if he had that inclination.
Carver also may have been celibate, except for the remembrances that he was known for massaging and roughhousing his male students.
The Story of George Washington Carver, W.H. Stacy, The October 1970 Alumnus.
That Curtis married twice while assisting Carver (with only a two-year mourning gap after the death of his first wife during their honeymoon) suggests that he may have been either straight or bi-sexual.
An artist, B, who imagines Carver's romantic feelings for Curtis, cites four reliable sources. Yet, it was Carver's view that neither his science nor his love life bore the import of his spirituality. He communed with God daily, if not constantly, as he was known to say.
An urban legend places him as simply adoring or in an intimate relationship with his lab assistant, Austin W. Curtis Jr., a scientist in her own right with a specialty in chemurgy - the industrial use of plants.
The claim has garnered growing tangential 'evidence.' For example, carver's most recent and prolific biographer reports in an interview his second-hand knowledge that Carver's autopsy revealed a scar where he had been castrated. But the biographer could not place the time or circumstance when this would have occurred.
It is presumed castration could not have occurred when Carver was a child. He would not have grown tall and developed facial hair; yet, his voice was extremely high.
It is known that some transgender people, born male, have engaged in self-castration, but this theory gets no attention in the literature or memorials.
Carver could have done that and survived it given his intimate knowledge of plants useful in healing, but the reason why he might have done it is unclear. Without further evidence, he is presumed gay, but there is no proof he was gay and not trans. To keep his job at Tuskegee he would not have been able to live as a woman even if he had that inclination.
Carver also may have been celibate, except for the remembrances that he was known for massaging and roughhousing his male students.
The Story of George Washington Carver, W.H. Stacy, The October 1970 Alumnus.
That Curtis married twice while assisting Carver (with only a two-year mourning gap after the death of his first wife during their honeymoon) suggests that he may have been either straight or bi-sexual.
An artist, B, who imagines Carver's romantic feelings for Curtis, cites four reliable sources. Yet, it was Carver's view that neither his science nor his love life bore the import of his spirituality. He communed with God daily, if not constantly, as he was known to say.
Description
Poster, by The Legacy Walk, dedicated on October 11, 2012, in Chicago - a permanent outdoor half-mile streetscape of bronze memorial plaques commemorating the lives and legacies of LGBTQ people who have made a difference in the world we share. This "outdoor classroom" for the Legacy Project Education Initiative (LPEI) is the centerpiece of a youth outreach and anti-bullying campaign.
www.legacyprojectchicago.org
www.legacyprojectchicago.org
Source
Peter Burchard, George Washington Carver, 2017.
https://www.georgewashingtoncarver.us/home
Peter Burchard, Young Carver Photo. Twitter.com/GWCarver1864
https://peterdburchard.tumblr.com/post/42209607253/george-washington-carver-american-sage-see
Peter Bruchard, audio recording of George Washington Carver.
Iowa Public Radio News.
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/arts-life/2010-04-06/the-voice-of-george-washington-carver
Was George Washington Carver Castrated as a Child?
Waffles. June 20, 2014.
http://wafflesatnoon.com/george-washington-carver-castrated/
https://www.georgewashingtoncarver.us/home
Peter Burchard, Young Carver Photo. Twitter.com/GWCarver1864
https://peterdburchard.tumblr.com/post/42209607253/george-washington-carver-american-sage-see
Peter Bruchard, audio recording of George Washington Carver.
Iowa Public Radio News.
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/arts-life/2010-04-06/the-voice-of-george-washington-carver
Was George Washington Carver Castrated as a Child?
Waffles. June 20, 2014.
http://wafflesatnoon.com/george-washington-carver-castrated/
Contributor
Library of Congress. Carver with his staff. Francis Benjamin Johnston, 1902.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.05633
George Washington Carver and Austin W. Curtis, Jr. at Tuskegee Institute with Sculpture by Steffan Thomas, Circa 1938. Call no. THF213732
Henry Ford Archive
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/51582
ShadowProof/Community/ Pam's House Blend
https://shadowproof.com/2011/02/19/george-washington-carver-was-gay-and-other-bits-of-lgbt-black-history-you-probably-didnt-know/
The Black Gay History Channel. Was George Washington Carver Gay? January 26, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD47Ho1rR34
Archive Insight. Austin W. Curtis, Jr.: Black Scientist and Entrepreneur. The Henry Ford Archive Blog. March 9, 2022.
https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/austin-w.-curtis-jr.-black-scientist-and-entrepreneur
6 How to Hear God: A Lesson from George Washington Carver and the Peanut
Clint Byars, 6 How to Hear God: A Lesson from George Washington Carver and the Peanut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_o_pOF7UF4
History is Queer
https://historyisqueer.tumblr.com/post/33639459460/history-is-queer-george-washington-carver
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.05633
George Washington Carver and Austin W. Curtis, Jr. at Tuskegee Institute with Sculpture by Steffan Thomas, Circa 1938. Call no. THF213732
Henry Ford Archive
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/51582
ShadowProof/Community/ Pam's House Blend
https://shadowproof.com/2011/02/19/george-washington-carver-was-gay-and-other-bits-of-lgbt-black-history-you-probably-didnt-know/
The Black Gay History Channel. Was George Washington Carver Gay? January 26, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD47Ho1rR34
Archive Insight. Austin W. Curtis, Jr.: Black Scientist and Entrepreneur. The Henry Ford Archive Blog. March 9, 2022.
https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/austin-w.-curtis-jr.-black-scientist-and-entrepreneur
6 How to Hear God: A Lesson from George Washington Carver and the Peanut
Clint Byars, 6 How to Hear God: A Lesson from George Washington Carver and the Peanut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_o_pOF7UF4
History is Queer
https://historyisqueer.tumblr.com/post/33639459460/history-is-queer-george-washington-carver
Identifier
Oil Painting by B.
https://bijijoo.com/chamberofscientists
https://bijijoo.com/chamberofscientists
YouTube Video Item Type Metadata
YouTube ID
8_o_pOF7UF4