James Wilson "Tama Jim" 1836-1920, Director Experiment Station 1891-97. First Dean of Agriculture 1897-02. Made Dean while on leave 1897-02. In Carver's words: "Wilson, the name of Hon. James Wilson is sacred to me. He was one of the finest teachers that it has ever been my privilege to listen to... Being a colored boy, and the crowded condition of the school, made it rather embarrassing for some, and it made the questions of a room rather puzzling. Prof. Wilson said, as soon as he heard it, "Send him to me, I have a room," and he gave me his office and was very happy in doing so. James Wilson was a farmer and a newspaper editor from Traer, Iowa, who had already served in the Iowa legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives when he was named Professor of Agriculture at Iowa State in 1891. Wilson and Carver became fast friends during Carver's years on campus. Both were very religious men, and Carver regularly attended a Sunday school class taught by Wilson. Carver visited the Wilson farm in Traer, and traveled around the state with Wilson on short lecture trips. In November 1895, Carver was offered a position at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University) in Lorman, Mississippi. Though Carver did not accept the position, Wilson's letter of recommendation reveals the respect and friendship between the two men: "I do not want to lose Mr. Carver from our station staff here... I have been more intimate with Mr. Carver than with any other student on the campus. I have to some extent befriended him when it was my power to do so, and he has responded by doing a great deal of work among the students that has pleased me greatly... In cross-fertilization... and the propagation of plants, he is by all means the ablest student we have here. Except for the respect I owe the professors, I would say he is fully abreast of them and exceeds in special lines in which he has a taste. We have nobody to take his place and I would never part with a student with so much regret as George Carver." Neg. # 0037165.
Budd family portrait with Joseph Lancaster Budd and Sarah Breed Budd with their children, Etta May and Allen Joseph. It was at Etta May Budd's urging that George Washington Carver transfer to Iowa State from Simpson College to study agriculture. Carver's first love was art, but Miss Budd feared that he would be unable to make a living as an artist. She felt it would be more practical to pursue another of his interests, plant science. She suggested he go to Iowa State, where her father, Joseph Lancaster Budd, was Head of the Horticulture Department from 1877 to 1900. Neg. 0039585.
Portrait of Edgar W. Stanton, George Washington Carver's professor in plane geometry. Edgar W. Stanton served Iowa State continuously from his graduation in 1872 until his death in 1920. He was made Head of the Mathematics Department in 1874, served as Secretary of the Board of trustees from 1874 to 1909, and was four times Acting President of Iowa State. After the death of his first wife, Margaret MacDonald Stanton, in 1895, Stanton presented the college with the first ten bells of the carillon hanging in the Campanile. After Edgar Stanton's death, his second wife, Julie Wentch Stanton, and his children contributed 26 additional bells. The carillon is known as the Stanton Memorial Carillon. Neg. # 0051527.
Graduation portrait of Henry A. Wallace. Son of Henry C. Wallace and friend of George Washington Carver, Wallace remembered Carver with appreciation: "Because of his friendship with my father and perhaps his interest in children George Carver often took me with him on botany expeditions, and it was he who first introduced me to the mysteries of plant fertilization. He seemed to have a great sympathy with me... Later on I was to have an intimate acquaintance with plants myself, because I spent a good many years breeding corn. Perhaps that was partly because this scientist, who belonged to another race, had deepened my appreciation of plants in a way I could never forget. Certainly because of his faith I became interested in things that today give me a distinct pleasure. I feel I must pay him this debt of gratitude." Henry A. Wallace was a 1910 graduate of Iowa State. After graduation, he farmed and wrote for Wallace's Farmer. He took over as the magazine's editor when his father became Secretary of Agriculture. He also founded the Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company in 1926, launching the first commercial production of hybrid seed corn. In 1932, Wallace was selected as Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Agriculture, a position held until 1940, when he was elected as Roosevelt's third term Vice President. He was not chosen as Vice President for Roosevelt's fourth term, but was selected as Secretary of Commerce. He held this post until 1946. At that time, differences with then President Harry S. Truman over U.S.-Soviet relations forced Wallace's dismissal. After an unsuccessful run for President in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket, Wallace retired from public life. He spent the rest of his years pursuing his interest in plant hybridization. Neg. # 2332.
Portrait of Maria Mabel Roberts, one of George Washington Carver's professors. Maria Roberts graduated from Iowa State in 1890 and shortly afterwards became a member of the Mathematics Department faculty. In 1908, she was named Vice-Dean of the Junior College--the term then used for the Freshman and Sophomore Classes. In 1920 she was named Dean of the Junior College. She continued as Dean and Professor of Mathematics until 1933, when she became Dean Emeritus and Director of Student Loans. Throughout her career, Miss Roberts was concerned with the plight of talented students who had a difficult time completing college because of financial problems. She was instrumental in developing the college loan funds do the needs of such students could be met. Through the Alumni Association, she also worked to set up scholarship funds for needy "B" or better students. Neg. # 0051763.
Statue of George Washington Carver by Christian Petersen, sculptor-in-residence in the late 1940s. Originally a plaster sculpture, it was given to the University and placed in Carver Hall at the dedication of the hall in 1970 by the Class of 1968. Christian Petersen came over and stood by August Bang's side. "When I look upon Carver as you have him here," Bang said, "the words which were written at his death come to my mind--'He wandered with God'." "That is just what I have tried to say," answered the artist, and a beautiful smile lighted his face. In 1998, with gift funds, the statue was cast in bronze as it was originally meant to be, and installed in the courtyard between Carver and Beardshear Halls.
Portrait of Henry C. Wallace, one of George Washington Carver's professors. Henry C. Wallace graduated in 1892 from Iowa State, a degree that was begun in 1885 and then interrupted by a career in farming. He was hired as an Assistant Professor in Dairying after completing his studies. While on the faculty, he started a publication, The Farm and Dairy, which was moved to Des Moines in 1896 and renamed Wallace's Farmer. Wallace left teaching to work on the magazine, which was edited by his father. He took over editorship upon his father's death in 1916. He was called to be President Warren G. Harding's Secretary of Agriculture in 1921, a position held until his death in 1924. Neg. # 031565.
Photograph of the Faculty and Farmers Institute at Tuskegee Institute, circa 1897, with George Washington Carver pictured at top, far left. Received from Carver: "My First Faculty and Farmers Institute at Tuskegee Inst. Ala. Geo. W. Carver" (negative number 02363C).
George W. Carver I.A.C. Class '94. Taken in 1893. Graduation picture, which appeared in the 1894 Bomb (published in 1893), on page facing page 34. Neg # 02364C (same picture appears in the faculty section of the 1896 Bomb, when he was Assistant Botanist in the Agricultural Experiment Station from 1894 to 1896). Neg # 02365.
Louis H. Pammel, Mrs. Pammel, George W. Carver, and Tuskegee Institute President Robert R. Moton (left to right) . Yucca in the background. Neg. No. 0062564 (4x5) 1928.
Tuskegee Institute President Robert R. Moton, Mrs. Pammel, Louis H. Pammel, and George W. Carver (left to right). Photo x Williamson 3-1928. Yucca in background.
