July 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off
Livin’ ain’t easy, Bloggin’s twice as tough
The Vulnerable Soul Of The Blogger
One can blog ones little heart out to bring what Matthew Arnold called “sweetness and light” to the public, asking for no other gratification than occasionally imbuing the reader with a bit of wisdom to enhance that individual’s life, only to have that vision shattered by those near and dear to him.
And, no, I’m not referring to the tragedy of discovering last month that my closest friends did not know, despite the multiple Heck of a Guy posts broadcasting the fact, that Leonard Cohen wrote “Hallelujah.” That episode is past; I have found that one can indeed love the sinner while hating the sin.
No, this desecration of the dream came to light this past weekend as I was catching up on the past month’s missed reading of the blogs I follow. In this process, I noticed that fellow McHenry County inhabitant and blogger, Cal Skinner of McHenryCountyBlog, had posted a description of his family’s vacation in and around my old stomping ground, southwest Missouri.
Given that I’ve written volumes about the wonders of this area, I was eager to read the Skinner family’s take on those sights.
I’ve excerpted the pertinent portions of Cal’s entry, Back From Vacation, below:
If you have noticed a dearth of local, breaking news since Independence Day, it was because our family was in Missouri on vacation. … We stayed at Joplin’s Hotel Desmond, much more than a bread and breakfast, because my gracious little sister and my brother-in-law run it.
We were treated to a Grand Lake, Oklahoma, 4th of July Saturday. … The rest of the day was spent in an undeveloped cove of this 66 mile long man-made lake. … My son was enchanted by the Undercliff Bar and Grill south of Joplin. We went twice. It had a toy scoop money grabber that guaranteed a prize, even if it was a piece of penny candy. He eventually got the bracelet he wanted. … We went to the Dickerson Zoo in Springfield, up I-44 from Joplin. The highlight (pun intended) was seeing folks feed the giraffes from a raised platform. The same day we visited the Fantastic Caverns. The latter were fantastic because one does not have to walk. We guys … went to see Big Brutus in southeast Kansas coal strip mine country.
Big Brutus is the second largest drag line in the country. It has been preserved and folks can climb to the cab. … we went together to the Precious Moments Chapel. I have to admit not wanting to go the first time around back in the early 1990’s. I thought the Precious Moments statuettes were “terminally cute.” The figurines still are, but the Chapel is worth the trip. … Next, the two sisters decided it was time to visit Branson, which is about as far south in Missouri as Joplin, but without a direct west-east connection. … Sunday we ate at Andy Williams’ Moon River Cafe. He was out playing golf, the bartender told us as he was serving our meal at the almost empty restaurant. That night, I enjoyed the joint show of Paul Revere and the Raiders, plus Bill Medley, the remaining and deep-voiced Righteous Brother. … And, who was in the audience? Andy Williams, Ann Margaret and her husband Roger Smith. They were sitting way up top, but I didn’t bring my camera. …
The Response
Heck of a Guy readers are no doubt appalled by this account - and not just because, in defiance of his own advice, Cal didn’t have his camera handy and thus forfeited his chance to play paparazzo to the Branson jet set.
No, the true horror arises from the realization of opportunities lost.
While I do not criticize those sites the Skinner family did visit, I cannot but lament that the most important local attractions were missing from their itinerary.
Let’s start with the absence of …
The Obligatory Parent-initiated Vacation Forced March To An Historically Or Culturally Significant Location (OPVFMTAHOCSL)
As it turns out, one can’t swing any sort of cat - deceased, live, or suspended in status Schrodinger - in the vicinity of southwest Missouri without hitting a Historically Or Culturally Significant Location (HOCSLs): a live feline, for example, placed in the prescribed centrifugal, arms length orbit could be clawing at civil war battlefields, archaeological digs, museums, mineral displays, or all manner of civic festivals. Heck, the whirling cat himself could well become the nidus of a festival.
But, of course, the obvious choice from this category would have been Diamond, Missouri (AKA The Gem City of the Ozarks), less than a 30 minute drive from Joplin and the birthplace of George Washington Carver, who was featured in six Heck of a Guy posts, and DrHGuy. There is, in fact, already a national monument located at the farm where George was born.
George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond, Missouri
Scenes from the George Washington Carver Monument
DrHGuy’s earliest home is, alas, not available for viewing because of its current role as - and I kid you not - a shed.
DrHGuy is far too modest to point out that the Skinner clan could, without leaving the city limits of Joplin, have made the pilgrimage to the McDonald’s where a young DrHGuy learned the ways of commerce, starting as a humble and lovable bun boy, then moving up to condiment dispenser, and finally rising to the position of shift floor manager. It was, in fact, that selfsame DrHGuy, who compiled, with his own hands (carefully washed as per the McDonald’s instructional video) two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun into the first Big Mac sold in Joplin.
Dramatization of first Big Mac sold in Joplin, Missouri. DrHGuy, creator.
Not that DrHGuy’s feeling are hurt or anything.
The Spiritual Venue
The Skinners did visit the Precious Moments Chapel, which technically qualifies as a spiritual site although its only mention in a Heck of a Guy post was as part of a threat in an extortion scheme.
Regardless, The primal preternatural locus of the area is clearly the Spooklight, the apparition described in this excerpt from Spooklight Story?
The Spooklight has appeared here since the 1860s, typically taking the form of a bright light (sometimes described as a “ball of fire”) of a yellow-orange color, ranging in size from what one might guess would be a large flashlight to something the size of a bushel basket or larger, that seems to be at the top of the next rise. The light routinely moves to the left and right. Less often, it’s said to split into smaller balls of light or take on different colors (red, blue, and green). Those walking toward the light find that it disappears until, if they continue forward, it reappears behind them.
The Spooklight offers, in short, the consummate religious experience:
the opportunity to scare the bejesus out of all involved
The Spooklight, near Hornet, Missouri
And, this reliably occurring miracle was certainly close by.
Spooklight Road is eleven miles southwest of Joplin, Missouri, just past the village of Hornet, in the area where Missouri borders Oklahoma and Kansas. The light is most commonly described as being visible from inside the Oklahoma border looking to the west.
Yet (cue ominous music) no Spooklight expedition was mounted by the Skinner Party.
Tomorrow:
Part II of The DrHGuy Alternative Southwest Missouri Tour
AKA, If She Finds Out, This Will Break My Mother’s Heart
Footnotes
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Tags: Fascinations
February 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Observations Evoked By The Heck of a Guy George Washington Carver Posts
The following notes are tangents, asides, and other remnants that percolated to the surface of my cortex while I was working on the Carver posts.
Carver’s Influence On A Child’s Perception Of Blacks
Mrs. Linklater commented on one of the George Washington Carver posts:
I discovered George Washington Carver when I was about eight years old. We had to go to our grade school library and read a biography. I was fascinated first by his accomplishments, but more because he was black. Such was life in the fifties
My parallel experience was warped by the geodemographic quirk of growing up near the George Washington Carver National Monument in a rural area with almost no blacks in the population.
Except for two years of middle school and my freshman year of college, I lived in my hometown, Diamond, Missouri, until I was 21. During that time, the only black people residing in or near that town, frequenting the local stores, attending the consolidated school that drew students from the outlying farms several miles from the facility itself, or belonging to any of the numerous churches in town were the Superintendent of the George Washington Carver National Monument or members of his family.
They stood out not only because they were black but also because, in a population almost devoid of college educated individuals other than teachers and some of the clergy, the Superintendents assigned by the National Park Service were college graduates. They and their families were also well spoken, typically well traveled, and, if my recall is accurate, usually hailed from urban environments, traits which distinctly atypical in my immediate environment
Consequently, I grew up with the impression that blacks were especially well educated and sophisticated. Such was life in the 50s - in Diamond, Missouri.
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George Washington and George Washington Carver
All sources seem to agree that George Carver did not use a middle name in childhood or early adolescence.
The two prevalent accounts of how he acquired “Washington” as part of his name follow:
- Wikipedia and others state that “In order to avoid confusion with another George Carver in his classes [at Iowa State University], he began to use the name George Washington Carver.”
- Other sites, such as George Washington Carver, report that “In the spring of 1885 [6 years before attending Iowa State University], … he had given himself the middle name of Washington.” Some sources, such as George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist by Janet Benge, add that he used the middle initial “W” in his correspondence because mail addressed to “George Carver” was being delivered to another George Carver.
As late as the first or second grade when a teacher gently disabused me of the notion, I was convinced that the shared names denoted some special connection between George Washington Carver and George Washington.
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There are a number of photos of Henry Ford and George Washington Carver on the internet, but, as far as I can determine, this site has the only such photo emblazoned with the caption, George Washington Carver, left, and industrialist Henry Ford share a weed sandwich in this 1942 photograph.
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The two leaders of foreign nations best known for soliciting Carver’s advice on enhancing their respective county’s agricultural resources were Joseph Stalin and Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi also asked for personal nutritional recommendations).
This is probably no more than a “how about that?” sort of coincidence, but doesn’t it seem somehow significant?
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There is a strong consensus that Carver was a talented artist and musician. It is interesting to speculate about how his life and history might have changed had he pursued a career, as he originally intended, in either of these fields instead of being persuaded by his college art teacher to change his studies and his focus to agricultural science.
If nothing else, the Tuskegee Institute would have been a very different sort of place without Carver, and it is difficult to imagine who, had Carver not been on the scene, would have carried on Booker T. Washington’s legacy after his death. On the other hand, it is appealing to wonder if Carver might personally have been happier confronting artistic challenges rather than dealing with the problems caused by abject poverty, depleted soil, and illiteracy.
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George Washington Carver (left) and Allan Truax (right)
Ongoing readers will recognize the photo of Allan Truax, an individual who has been featured in several Heck of a Guy posts. Given that Allan Truax was a contemporary of Carver’s and that Truax was well read in general, it would be surprising if he were not aware of Carver’s work. Since Truax was specifically interested in horticulture and mycology (which were also areas of focus for Carver), it is not far fetched to believe he may well have had some insight into the extent to which Carver’s accolades were exaggerated.
In any case, I find myself longing to ask Mr. Truax about his opinion of Mr. Carver.
Footnotes
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Tags: Fascinations
February 5th, 2008 · 1 Comment
George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond, Missouri
Remembering George
A recently opened exhibit showcasing the scientific accomplishments of George Washington Carver at the Field Museum has occasioned articles in both The Tribune and The Sun-Times which, in turn, have prompted today’s Heck of a Guy post commemorating my hometown hero.
Yep, George and I both spent our early years in rural southwestern Missouri (see map) near the town of Diamond (Diamond Grove in George’s day).
The following is the short version of Carver’s life that I long ago learned by heart as a result of multiple visits to the George Washington Carver National Monument.
The Carver Monument, created on July 14, 1943 when Franklin Roosevelt signed an order appropriating $30,000 on for its creation, is itself significant as the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and also the first to a non-President.
The George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond, Missouri
Carver’s Birth, Kidnapping, and Childhood
Born about 1864 (the exact year is unknown) on the farm of Moses Carver, a successful horse trader, near Diamond Grove, Missouri, George Washington Carver soon became an orphan. His father had died in an accident before George’s birth. Then, when still an infant, George and his mother, who had been purchased as a slave by Moses Carver, were kidnapped by raiders to be re-sold. A tracker hired by Moses Carver returned George to the farm but never found his mother.
Moses and Susan Carver, who were childless, raised Carver and his 6 year old brother, Jim.
Because of several bouts of illness and his consequent frailty, George was not assigned to work in the fields as his brother did but instead helped with household chores and gardening, becoming so skilled at the latter that he became known as the “plant doctor.” He also became proficient in cooking, needlework, and other domestic skills as well as exhibiting a talent for playing the guitar and fiddle.
The Education Of George Carver
With no educational facilities open to Blacks nearby, he learned to read, write and spell at home. When he was about eleven and deemed old enough to leave home, George was sent to Neosho (10-15 miles distant), where he boarded with boarding with a childless black couple while he attended a school for African Americans, .
At 13, Carver, with the blessing of his foster parents, left with other African Americans who were traveling west to travel to Kansas. Carve spent the next several years wandering through towns in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, earning money through whatever work he could find in mostly rural, all-white communities, using patience and a modest, nonthreatening demeanor to overcome prejudice.
Over the years, Carver sent several letters to colleges, finally being accepted at Highland College in Highland, Kansas. On his arrival there, however, he was immediately rejected once he was discovered to be an African American.
In 1890, Carver’s journey brought him to Simpson College in Winterset, Iowa, where he enrolled to study piano and painting.
Carver painting
Soon, however, Etta Budd, his art instructor, convinced him to pursue a different course - a career in “scientific agriculture,” which she promoted as a more profitable field. That Ms Budd’s father was the Director of the Iowa State College Department of Horticulture was no doubt a factor in this decision making process.
Consequently, in 1891, Carver became the first African American to enroll at Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which is today Iowa State University.
Earning his tuition by opening and running a laundry business, Carver found time not only for his job and his studies but to become a leader in the YMCA and the debate club, work in the dining rooms and as a trainer for the athletic teams, and reach the rank of captain, the highest student rank, of the campus military regiment. He also wrote poetry, which was published in the student newspaper, and painted. Two of his paintings were exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
After he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science in 1894, he spent the next two years as assistant botanist for the College Experiment Station, working in plant pathology and mycology and publishing several articles.
Carver received a master’s degree and was appointed to the teaching staff, becoming Iowa State’s first African American faculty member, in 1896 - the same year the Supreme Court embraced segregation with its ruling supporting the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which declared “separate but equal” was constitutional.
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Soon afterward, he was invited by Booker T. Washington to join the faculty of Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute as the head of the agricultural program. He was to stay at Tuskegee, remaining unmarried and living in one of the dormitories, for the rest of his life, while becoming known as the “Wizard of Tuskegee.”
He repeatedly turned down publicity and royalties for his inventions as well as several lucrative job offers, including one from Thomas Edison, who offered Carver an annual salary of $100,000 and state of the art facilities to move to Orange Grove, New Jersey to work at the Edison Laboratories, and another from Henry Ford, said to have been one of Carver’s closest friends, preferring to stay at Tuskegee.
The Miracle Worker
Most folks, if they know anything about Carver, know that he “invented peanut butter.” Well, he didn’t. He did, however, do much to popularize its use. And, he did from 1903 to 1920, create 325 products from peanuts (including peanut oil, peanut flour, candies, cosmetics, dyes, cereal milk, ice cream flavorings, and faux marble tiles made from peanut husks), more than 100 products from sweet potatoes, 75 products from the pecan, dozens of others from discarded corn stalks, and still others from common clays. By the end of his career, he had created hundreds of needed goods from more from a dozen other plants native to the South.
In 1921, Carver appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss his work with peanuts, testimony that helped pass a tariff on imported peanuts and made him a national hero, the subject of several biographies and a movie. For many years, he was one of a handful of African Americans mentioned in American textbooks.
These products contributed to rural economic improvement by offering alternative crops to cotton that were beneficial for the farmers and for the land. During this time, Carver also carried the Iowa State extension concept to the South and created “movable schools,” bringing practical agricultural knowledge to farmers, thereby promoting health, sound nutrition and self-sufficiency.
Dennis Keeney, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, writes in the Leopold Letter newsletter about Carver’s contributions:
Carver worked on improving soils, growing crops with low inputs, and using species that fixed nitrogen (hence, the work on the cowpea and the peanut). Carver wrote in The Need of Scientific Agriculture in the South: “The virgin fertility of our soils and the vast amount of unskilled labor have been more of a curse than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system for cultivation, the destruction of forest, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, have made our agricultural problem one requiring more brains than of the North, East or West.
“Crop rotation was far from a new idea, in those days,” said Michael Dillon, the Field’s botany curator. “The Egyptians had been rotating crops in the time of the pyramids, but it hadn’t been tried in the Cotton Belt.”
Carver was also a deeply religious man and agreed to share his belief in racial equality. During the 1920s and 1930s, he traveled throughout the South delivering his message of racial harmony -that faith in Jesus was the means by which barriers of racial disharmony and social stratification could be destroyed.
George Washington Carver died in 1943.
Honors
The Iowa State University site lists some of his honors:
He received many honors in his lifetime and after, including a 1938 feature film, Life of George Washington Carver; the George Washington Carver Museum, dedicated at Tuskegee Institute in 1941; the Roosevelt Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Southern Agriculture in 1939; a national monument in Diamond Grove, Mo.; commemorative postage stamps in 1947 and 1998; and a fifty-cent coin in 1951. He was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1977 and inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1994, Iowa State awarded him the degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. In recent years, Dr. Carver has also been recognized by being named to the USDA Hall of Heroes (2000) and one of 100 nominees for the “The Greatest American,” series on the Discovery Channel (2005).
The line form the Trib article that seems to best fits the man is
Carver was a visionary so far ahead of his time he might well have felt at home in today’s world
The article goes on to quote scholar Peter Duncan Burchard:
He was an ecologist, he was the ultimate conservationist, he was a powerful proponent of nature-centered education, his scientific ethics were impeccable, he was a visionary who worried about man exhausting the Earth’s natural resources so that his research presages biochemical engineering.
The Other George Washington Carver
This is not, however, the end of the story of Carver. More accurately, it’s not the only George Washington Carver story. That’s the subject of the next post, George Washington Carver - Hero or Hype?
Footnotes
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