Former Slave Inducted into Soybean Hall of Fame

Former slave George Washington Carver was inducted into The Missouri Soybean Hall of Fame earlier this month. The Missouri-native—who was freed in 1865 when slavery became illegal in the state—was recognized for his agricultural advancements such as creating non-dairy cheeses from soy. “Carver was a pioneer in value-added agriculture,” Missouri Soybean Center director Bill Wiebold said. “He knew that crop rotation would fail if other crops in rotation had little value. His work with the bean foreshadowed the many ways that soy is used in the marketplace today.” Carver earned a master’s degree from Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts and was a professor at the Tuskegee Institute of Alabama for 40 years.