George Washington Carver’s love for learning led him from Diamond grove, Missouri, to Ames, Iowa – with many stops in between

George opened a laundry to earn money. He was busy all the time. He read his lessons while he scrubbed clothes. He read some more as he ate his lunch. Sometimes some friends would come to visit, and George would go on reading and work- ing while he talked with them.

The class George liked most of all was art class. His art teacher, Miss Budd, thought he was a very good painter. And she knew how much he loved to paint. But she knew, too, that it was hard for even the best artists to make money. It would be harder – maybe even impossible – for a black artist to make a living. She told George what she thought.

"Your paintings are beautiful, George. But art- ists die poor. Isn't there something else you would like to do? You know so much about growing things – maybe you should change to science. You would be doing work you enjoy, and still make a good living."