GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER, - Weebly · 2 NOTE TO TEACHER: Meet George Washington Carver, the "Plant Doctor," who transforms junk to inventions in a dozen read aloud, pre-lesson, scenes.

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THE PEANUT MAN

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER,

INVENTOR!

By Robin Pullen

[email protected]

copyright august, 2017

teachersthemusical.com

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NOTE TO TEACHER: Meet George Washington Carver, the "Plant Doctor," who

transforms junk to inventions in a dozen read aloud, pre-lesson, scenes.

CHARACTERS for the full 45-minute play may be acted by the entire class, or by three

players who assume multiple roles:

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER, (1864-1943) sports a sprig of green.

* WOMAN

* MAN

* WOMAN plays MAMA

FARMER

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

TEACHER I

JOE

*MAN plays HENRY FORD

THOMAS EDISON

FRANKLN DELANO ROOSEVELT (glasses clipped

to the bridge of his nose)

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (high pitched voice, pounding fist)

MAN

CONGRESSMAN

FLOWER

ETTA

TEACHER II

MOSES CARVER

GEORGE WASHINGTON (GW)

Special appearances by African American inventors: NOTE: For additional

characters, all PROPS can come to life!

Madame C.J. Walker Daniel Hale Williams

Sarah Goode Benjamin Banneker

Miriam Benjamin M.A. Cherry

SET:

A field. Continuous, fluid movement throughout.

MUSIC:

Rhythmic, interpretive songs (optional)

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A Standards Based Drama

Social Studies Standards:

SS.8.6.6 States’ Rights and Slavery-describe views about slavery (Farmer’s point of

view)

SS.USH4.2 Important Individuals in the Civil War era-beliefs and contributions

(Booker T. Washington)

SS51.12. Maps to draw conclusions-use physical maps to draw conclusions about

settlement after the Civil War

(GWC’s journeys)

Science

S.ChS.1.Science Inquiry: Questions & Design-evaluate the importance of curiosity and

skepticism (Inventors: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison)

PS2: The Nature of Science-how Carver analyzed new material relative to past scientific

knowledge

S. ChS.9.1 Reading informational and fictional science texts (crop rotation/southern

economics)

PS4: Plant Classification: Apply classification tools to identify types of plants

PS6: Society & Technology-analyze the use and importance of plants for food, medicine

and other products (research/peanuts/products)

Reading:

ELAALRL-Demonstrates comprehension in nonfiction and informational texts

LA.AAL.6.2 Critical Listening: Speaker Purpose: Recognize a speaker's purpose and

identify verbal and nonverbal components of communication (FDR, Theodore

Roosevelt)

LA.AAL.8.1 Mass Media: Representations

The learner will be able to evaluate messages and effects of mass media (or drama)

Technology:

T7: Use brainstorming/webbing software in planning and organizing Civil War research

African American Research:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart6.html

http://www.eduplace.com/science/invention/overview.html#learning-

(Invention Convention)

http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/danielwilliams.html

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SCENE ONE: MAMA, GEORGE, MOSES, (Optional PROPS, as needed)

MAMA

(Calls to George from offstage.)

Carver’s George!

GEORGE

( enters with his SHOVEL and picks a flower)

Yes, Mama? And how are you, Flower! What’s blooming? I wish I could name every

stone, insect, bird and beast, and especially, flower.

(ALL chant/sing with him.)

Butterfly weed

And li-ii-atris

Purple cone

Core-opsis

Tall white aster

Mountain mint

Marigolds

Of yellow tint.

MAMA

(still from offstage)

George, are you talking to those flowers again!

GEORGE

How do Mamas know everything! When I close my eyes I can still see you, Mama, a

slave on our farm in Diamond Grove, Missouri.

(speaks to audience)

Missouri, that’s two states up and one west of us.

MAMA

(enters)

My son George was born in 1864 during the Civil War, the war where the north border

states fought the southern states, like Georgia.

GEORGE

How many of you know your birthday? Well, back in the 1800’s no one actually kept

records of when slaves were born.

MAMA

We lived on a farm with the family that owned us, Susan and Moses Carver.

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MOSES

I hired your daddy who right away taught himself to read. His family was so poor, he

couldn't afford to buy a pencil, so he carved a holder that was only the size of my

thumbnail.

GEORGE

I wish I got to meet my Daddy, Sir.

MOSES

Sorry about his accident, George. Tractors are terribly dangerous.

MAMA

Come in the kitchen, Son, and Miss Susan and me will fix you something tasty.

GEORGE

But then one terrible day Mama and I were taken away!

MAMA

Sold again!

GEORGE

But why can’t we still be free with the Carvers!

MAMA

No one can own our thoughts, George. Always remember that.

GEORGE

Because we were sent to different places, I started speaking to Mama in my head. Mama?

MAMA

You make me SMILE, George!

GEORGE

Uh uh. You make ME smile!

MAMA

I see big things going to happen for you, George!

GEORGE

I’m going to make you proud, Mama! I promise!

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MAMA

(turns, before exiting)

I know that’s right!

GEORGE

But the only folks I got to talk to in the barn I was taken to were horses!

End of Scene One.

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SCENE TWO (GEORGE, MOSES, FLOWER)

GEORGE

(standing alone)

I stayed in that barn with all those mangy horses, until one lonely afternoon a tall man

came in, trading his thoroughbred .

MOSES

(enters)

George! It’s really you!

GEORGE

Master Carver! I never thought I’d see you again!

MOSES

You’re coming with me back to the old farm.

GEORGE

But how? My job is to stay with these horses.

MOSES

See my race horse tied out back? Watch! Sir! I will give you three hundred dollars for

that boy! And for him I will trade you for my magnificent race horse!

(throws hands up with glee)

Done! George, you, are going back to the farm with me!

GEORGE

But Mama’s nowhere. She disappeared forever.

MAMA

(her back toward him, she turns around.)

Who still tells you you’re going to do big things with your life, George?

GEORGE

You, Mama.

MAMA

Well, go on now!

GEORGE

So now more than anytime that’s what I wanted to do.

(coughs)

But because of all that time living with horses, I got a cough.

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(MOSES enters with a board)

MOSES

That’s some cough you’ve got.

GEORGE

You ever have a bad cough before? Well, I did. Whooping. And it made me frail. Weak.

MOSES

Today those big boards out back have to be lugged away.

GEORGE

(coughs as he tries to carry the board)

I’m trying, Sir, I am.

MOSES

(takes the board from him)

So what if you can’t do heavy chores like the other slaves. You’ll teach yourself in the

big house-

GEORGE

(reading dictionary)

And I taught myself how to read. And know things. Big house- the house owned by the

slave owners.

MOSES

You’ll learn, you’ll draw. You’ll see, George. You’ll find your own way.

GEORGE

So when I was twelve I learned how to sew. And I got to spend long hours by myself in

the woods around the farm. Doing what I loved best, gardening! One day I was puttering

with the soil when I heard-

(FLOWER enters, drooping)

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FLOWER

Psst, over here, George!

GEORGE

Hmm, looks like something’s wrong with you, Flower.

FLOWER

(sneezes)

Who ever heard before of a flower who’s allergic to her own petals.

GEORGE

I know just the kind of medicine that’ll make you feel better. Here.

(replants flower)

FLOWER

Carver’s George, you’re a regular plant doctor!

(puts a flower in his lapel)

FLOWER

How does it feel wearing something living on your lapel?

GEORGE

From now on, I always will. And you know what else? When I grow up I’m going to

study plants, and be a botanist!

FLOWER

Because you made me better, I painted you a reward!

(hands him a PAINTING)

GEORGE

All these beautiful flowers. I know what else I’m going to be…an artist!

FLOWER

And I will remember who cured me of all that sneezing, Plant Doctor!

(struts off)

GEORGE

A plant doctor! I felt like the richest kid anywhere and then I heard the news.

(MOSES enters)

MOSES

Did you hear, Boy? The Civil War ended! The north won so now southern blacks are

free. You’re no longer a slave!

GEORGE

I’m free? I can live where I want, and work for real money?

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MOSES

Free to go.

GEORGE

That’s a generous offer, but the truth is,I don’t want to. I love the old farm so much,

please let me stay.

MOSES

George. The truth is…I’d like nothing better.

GEORGE

(looking in DICTIONARY)

Generous- willing to give or share unstintingly.

MOSES

You know, don’t you, that other slave owners don’t want their slaves to have an

education. But not me.

GEORGE

Thank you, because I want to learn everything! About crops that make the soil better.

Peas, soybeans, sweet potatoes, pecans, peanuts!

MOSES

You really do want to learn everything. But.

GEORGE

But, what, what? You have to tell me.

MOSES

The truth is, Carver’s George, there are no schools here for black boys like you.

GEORGE

But where, then?

MOSES

Newton County.

GEORGE

But that’s a hundred miles away from here!

MOSES

And you’re only twelve.

GEORGE

But I have to, Sir. I have to learn.

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MOSES

Then that’s what you’ll do.

(MOSES waves good-bye to GEORGE)

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SCENE THREE (GEORGE, JOE, TEACHER I)

GEORGE

There was no car to drive me to the school, so I walked. And I walked. And I walked.

Ow. These feet!

(takes off SHOES)

And there I met an old black man who didn’t have any children. Joe and his wife let me

sleep in their barn all winter.

(JOE enters, sporting a red bandana. G. extends

his hand.)

Carver’s George.

JOE

We’ll call you George Carver. The barn is cold, George. Ooh, dogs, is it cold! But you’ll

have plenty to eat. And a place to sleep. Long as you do chores.

GEORGE

Chores, huh?

JOE

You don’t want to starve, do ya? See boys around me starving every day.

GEORGE

Not going to happen to me. When I come home from school-

JOE

Household chores!

GEORGE

And when I wake up in the morning-

JOE

Household chores!

GEORGE

And during the day, I'll go to school.

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JOE

Got us a segregated school here. All the coloreds together in one room.

GEORGE

Sign me up for that!

(JOE ties red bandana around his neck,ties

TEACHER’s apron.)

JOE

But I don’t know what the teachers gonna think of you.

GEORGE

What you mean?

JOE

Too smart for your own good. Too smart for your own good!

GEORGE

Boy, Joe was right about that. First day at the school the teacher says:

TEACHER I

Recess!

(GEORGE reads his book)

GEORGE

And I keep reading my book. And she says,

TEACHER I

Recess!

GEORGE

And I keep reading my book. And she says,

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TEACHER I

GEORGE CARVER!

GEORGE

Which is not a good thing when the teacher says your first name and your last. “Yes,

‘M?” I says. I try to be polite.

TEACHER I

When a teacher tells you a thing, you got to go and do it. That’s the rule. The rule of

school. And it’s my job to tell you the rules.

GEORGE

But you don’t understand.

TEACHER I

Oh, I don’t understand!

GEORGE

I’ve got to study, Ma’am. Before school and after I do my chores at home.

TEACHER I

Way you’re studying, soon you’ll know more than even me!

GEORGE

Boy, she was right about that. Ma’am!

TEACHER I

What is it now, George?

GEORGE

Did you know that mycology is the branch of botany that deals with fungi?

TEACHER I

Sure I heard it-just actually didn’t know it until you told me! Now after school it would

be nice if you played like the other boys.

GEORGE

But after school Mr. Joe had different ideas for me.

(TEACHER reties JOE’s bandana.)

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SCENE FOUR: (JOE, GEORGE, GEORGE WASHINGTON/GW)

JOE

(JOE hands G. a pot)

George, you’re going to earn your keep here. I was thinking, not sure if you know it or

not, but I’m not too good at cooking.

GEORGE

Oh, I know it!

JOE

Sure are honest!

GEORGE

I mean-

JOE

What I’m saying is that hominy you made us last night was real good.

GEORGE

All I did was stir out the lumps, Sir. Don’t really know anything else about cooking.

JOE

So good, I reckon you can even sell it.

GEORGE

Sell it? You mean earn money? My very own money? Hmmm…

JOE

Lots of chores you can do around here so I won’t have to.

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GEORGE

Chores!

JOE

Fella can get rich being a farm hand, or even a laundry helper! But if you’re not

interested-

GEORGE

My own money here I come!

(JOE hands G an iron)

JOE

AND you can even iron!

GEORGE

Iron! Me, a boy, iron?

JOE

Looks like you’re having a mighty fine time ironing!

GEORGE

Ironing. You can keep that! I ended up ironing clothes and clothes and clothes for all my

classmates, ‘til I heard the words I always dreamed of.

JOE

George, it’s time to get rid of that old iron. It has seen its day.

GEORGE

Yessirree! Get rid of this old iron.

(JOE takes IRON. GEORGE reluctantly

grabs it back)

Wait.

JOE

What’re you doing?

GEORGE

Not like we can just throw it away. Even if it is a nasty iron.

JOE

Old, broken iron. I don’t have no problem with tossing it in the heap.

(JOE throws away iron.)

GEORGE

Stop! We’ll find a new use for it.

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JOE

Oh, no. I saw what you did with that old wrapping paper you found! Garbage is garbage.

GEORGE

(sifting through GARBAGE)

Garbage is treasure. You think this is just an old bag. Not to me, a notebook!

JOE

A notebook that is garbage. That’s what it is.

GEORGE

The city dump is a treasure chest!

JOE

You’re not bringing any of that festering, rotten junk heap in here!

GEORGE

This isn’t junk! It’s an old stove. Know what I’m going to do with it?

JOE

You’ll say throw it away if you’re smart.

GEORGE

I’m going to cook you a meal!

JOE

Can’t wait to eat that. Cooked on garbage!

GEORGE

Not going to throw something away that can be used again.

JOE

In that Webster’s dictionary of yours, look up Mr. Horticulturalist who’s a pain in the

rumproast .

GEORGE

(opens DICTIONARY)

Horticulture-the science or of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, and plants.

JOE

You look up so many words, I think you memorized the whole book word by word!

GEORGE

Great idea!

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JOE

You look up “junk” in that book of yours and you’ll find j-u-n-k.

GEORGE

Inventors love, love, love junk. You’re looking at George Carver the Inventor, I’m telling

you!

JOE

George Carver. There’s already a George Carver in town.

GEORGE

Then I’ll add a W to it, to keep people from being confused.

JOE

What’s the W stand for? You think you’re some president or something?

(JOE exits)

GEORGE

Actually it’s because I greatly admire President George Washington. There he is now!

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SCENE FIVE (JOE, GEORGE, GW, MAMA)

JOE

George Washington from a hundred years ago from the Revolutionary War!

GEORGE

I can see him in my imagination. No harm in that!

(GW enters, sporting a white wig)

GW

George Washington, at your service!

GEORGE

I hope you don’t mind I borrowed your name for my own.

GW

I’m honored. You must be impressed with me because I helped defeat the British during

the Revolutionary War?

GEORGE

The British? Yeah, they’re okay, but what interests me is what you did with crop

rotation!

GW

Crop rotation! I’m sure you are more interested that I resigned my commission during the

French and Indian War because of disparity of pay between the British and colonial

officers. I’m afraid there is discrimination for you here even now, a hundred years later.

GEORGE

(GW exits. G. doesn’t have to look up word

in Webster’s.)

Discrimination. Treatment based on class rather than individual merit

(JOE, enters wearily, holding a ROPE.)

JOE

Our first president was right, George. Fort Scott’s no place for a black man. You didn’t

see any shenanigans on the way home from school-

GEORGE

Look! An angry mob.

JOE

Not talking about it.

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GEORGE

A mob of white men!

JOE

Sweeping this porch, George. I don't hear you!

GEORGE

They're doing something bad. I can hear it!

JOE

Take this broom, and sweep, sweep.

GEORGE

(He throws down his BROOM. MAMA picks it

up.)

I’m not going to live in a terrible place like this! I’m not!

JOE

If your Mama were here, what would she say?

MAMA

No boy of mine should ever have to be schooled in a place like this.

GEORGE

But if I can’t live here, where will I go to High School, Mama?

MAMA

You’ll go were there are black boys like you.

GEORGE

There’s no school for black kids for me!

MAMA

Isn’t there.

GEORGE

But-

MAMA

But it is what your heart is telling you to do. I hear it, George.

GEORGE

And I hear you. I’m going to learn for you, Mama! I’m going to learn so much that if you

were here you would say-

MAMA

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Son, I’m so proud of you.

SCENE SIX (GEORGE, TEACHER II, MAMA)

GEORGE

Yeah. That…So I went. And I learned all I could from High School in 1885. Then it was

time to think of College.

(To TEACHER II, who enters.

The two are distanced

from each other. G. writes.)

Dear Highland College Professor, I’ve learned everything I can at my school. And what I

need now is a place where I can learn even more. I’m graduated now, so I’m going to

spend all of my money applying to a good school that could give me an education…And

he wrote me back!

.

TEACHER II

Mr. Carver, according to your school records-

GEORGE

Yes, I like to learn! I want to study science, and invent things! I sure love rubbish! Maybe

I shouldn’t exactly put that part in my letter!

TEACHER II

Your record looks great, Mr. Carver. Why don’t you travel to the University and accept

your scholarship.

GEORGE

Accept my-does that mean I made it, Mama?

MAMA

You know what that dictionary of yours says!

GEORGE

(G. mounts a horse/chair and then dismounts.)

So I traveled to Kansas. One state left of Missouri. Professor?

(he extends his hand but TEACHER doesn’t

take it.)

TEACHER II

You’re a Negro!

GEORGE

Last time I looked!

TEACHER II

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Why didn’t you tell me?

GEORGE

What does that have to do with anything.

TEACHER II

As of this moment, your scholarship and acceptance, George Washington Carver, are

declined!

GEORGE

But I passed the college entrance examination!

TEACHER II

Your kind can not enroll.

GEORGE

I have to go to college!

TEACHER II

There’s the Homestead Act. Anyone can get a tract of land to cultivate for five years.

GEORGE

I want to get an education and you’re offering me land!

TEACHER II

Take it or leave it.

GEORGE

No! What I have to do is-

(MAMA enters, bringing him his SHOVEL)

Oh, give me that shovel…So, like Moses Carver who raised me, I gave up on my

education and became a farmer. I cleared the land, and built a home.

MAMA

Being a farmer doesn’t sound like the dream my boy had for himself.

GEORGE

Not one school wants me!

MAMA

So if being a farmer’s the life you want-

GEORGE

You know it’s not!

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MAMA

Know you’re not at all interested in Simpson College.

GEORGE

The college in Iowa.

MAMA

Reckon, with all that farming you love so much, you don’t have time to apply to Simpson

College.

GEORGE

One state up from Missouri, here I come!

MAMA

Now don’t miss your train!

(MAMA puts on a straw hat)

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SCENE SEVEN (GEORGE, ETTA, FARMER)

GEORGE

Boarding. North to Iowa. And that’s where I met Mrs. Etta Budd.

ETTA

A thirty year old farmer, will you look at that!

GEORGE

College is calling my name, Ma’am.

ETTA

Took you long enough to answer.

GEORGE

I want to learn, Ma’am.

ETTA

About the color of your skin.

GEORGE

What about the color of my skin!

ETTA

At Simpson, we don’t give a hoot about the color of your skin. You’re accepted!

GEORGE

You hear that, Mama? The college accepted me! I am the second black student! And I am

finally going to study science!

ETTA

No, George, I’m sorry.

GEORGE

What do you mean? You said I got accepted.

ETTA

But all our school offers is piano and art.

GEORGE

Piano and art…! Well, I guess that’s close to science.

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ETTA

You do have a good singing voice.

GEORGE

Singing. So I sang and played the piano-

I washed my socks and washed my britches

Washed my shirts in my laundry business

Money came in and helped pay my way

Etta Budd’s art instructing filled my days.

Good morning, Ms. Budd.

ETTA

George, you know my father is head of Iowa State’s Department of Horticulture.

GEORGE

I didn’t know that, Ma’am.

ETTA

And he says you draw fine pictures of plants. So fine, that you won first place in our

state-wide contest! In Cedar Rapids.

GEORGE

That requires dress clothes and travel. So though I am humbled by this honor-

ETTA

No is not a word! Your classmates bought you a train ticket so you have no choice but to

go and get your honor.

GEORGE

I don’t know what to say.

ETTA

Don’t say. Do. Use those beautiful plant paintings of yours, your horticultural talents.

And apply for a career in scientific agriculture.

GEORGE

(points to dictionary)

Agriculture-cultivating soil, raising livestock, farming-

ETTA

And producing crops.

GEORGE

But there’s never been a black man-

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ETTA

Never been ‘til now.

GEORGE

It’s my dream, Miss Budd.

ETTA

Then you must follow it.

GEORGE

So I filled out that application. But, oh, the waiting!

ETTA

Hear anything yet?

GEORGE

Not a word.

ETTA

George! I do believe you have a delivery.

GEORGE

Read it for me. I’m so nervous.

ETTA

(nervously opens letter)

I believe I’m more on edge than even you. It says here. It says-

(she starts to cry)

GEORGE

They didn’t accept me.

ETTA

George Washington Carver, you are the first African American to enroll at Iowa State

College of Agriculture!

GEORGE

To enroll-but did I get in?

ETTA

And the first to get accepted!

GEORGE

The first!

27

MAMA

(tying on her white apron)

Oh, George. Do you know what this means?

GEORGE

Mama, for you, this African American earned himself a Bachelor of Science Degree!

MAMA

My son prevented and cured fungus diseases affecting cherry plants.

ETTA

Oh, George, the most glorious news. Aside from Honorable Mention at the Chicago’s

World Fair. Two funguses have been named for you!

GEORGE

You sure this is a good thing?

ETTA

Oh, George, more great news! You are our college’s first black faculty member!

MAMA

My son became the first black person in America to get a Masters of Science in

agriculture. The very first. A mother is allowed to brag a little bit.

GEORGE

Mama, how I can see you smile!

(TEACHER II enters with papers to sign.)

TEACHER II

We are proud, Mr. Carver, to accept you as director of the department of agricultural

research!

GEORGE

Me, a botanist, a studier of plants! Students! Gather round.

FARMER

(ties on the bandana)

Yes, Sirree, Professor Carver.

GEORGE

Nature is the greatest teacher. By understanding the forces in nature, we can understand

the dynamics of agriculture. When you do common things in an uncommon way you will

command the attention of the world.

FARMER

It’s like you say, Sir. Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

GEORGE

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Just remember, reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens

carefully, he can learn even more than what is in the books.

SCENE EIGHT (TEACHER II, BOOKER, GEORGE)

TEACHER II

George! I have great news! Today there is someone who is here to see you, the founder of

Tuskegee Institute, a college for Negroes, in Alabama.

(BOOKER T enters, wearing a black bow tie)

GEORGE

Alabama! That’s two states down!

BOOKER T

It is my privilege-

GEORGE

Booker T. Washington! Born a slave, like me.

BOOKER T

I have taught carpentry, mechanics, and farming, like you, George. And I believe that

work skills will lead to economic prosperity for the black man.

GEORGE

It’s a difficult world, Sir, with those Jim Crow laws, segregating blacks and whites.

Separate drinking fountains, separate schools.

BOOKER T.

But now the black man has his own school, George. True, I cannot offer you money,

position or fame. The first two you have. The last, the place you now occupy, you will no

doubt achieve. These things I now ask you to give up. I offer you in their place work-

hard, hard work-the task of bringing a people from degradation, poverty, to full manhood.

I offer you a position at the Tuskegee Institute!

GEORGE

Alabama. I would help people with their science! But there will be no money. No

money? Hmmm…

(sings)

Give me a million dollars

And I don’t care

Offer to send me on expeditions

I won’t ask where

When you pursue what you love

The wealth comes with it.

The richest person in the world

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Uses his talents to the fullest!

BOOKER T

(shakes GEORGE’s hand)

Welcome aboard, George! But there is one thing you must know.

GEORGE

Yes, Sir.

BOOKER T

Where you’re going is the south. Life for a black man is much more different in Alabama

than here in the north.

GEORGE

How bad can it be?

BOOKER T

Slaves no more.

GEORGE

So I traveled one thousand miles to Tuskegee Institute. And I began teaching my first

black farmers. Sir? SIR!

30

SCENE NINE (FARMER, GEORGE, MAN)

FARMER

You talking to me?

(ties on bandana as he looks around)

GEORGE

You’re the only gentleman standing in the field, aren’t you?

FARMER

Gentleman, huh? Now that you mention it, I reckon I am.

GEORGE

And you want to grow as many kind of crops as you can on this land, don’t you?

FARMER

This land? All that grows here is tobacco and cotton.

GEORGE

Not if we rotate the crops!

FARMER

Plant tobacco one season, cotton the next? Nope. Never been done.

GEORGE

One year we could grow peanuts, nitrate producing legumes. The next year we alternate

with cotton, which depletes the soil of its nutrients. So peanuts, cotton, peanuts, cotton.

FARMER

Cotton only crop planted here.

GEORGE

Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

FARMER

Peanuts. Who ever heard of workin’ for peanuts!

GEORGE

All that planting will make the soil richer.

(discards a peach)

31

GEORGE

Wait! Don’t throw that away.

FARMER

But it’s junk.

GEORGE

Some folks think junk is useful.

FARMER

Some folks have a screw loose.

GEORGE

Everything has a purpose, even if that purpose might change over time.

FARMER

A peach pit is a peach pit.

GEORGE

Not if we take the remains of all kinds of food and turn it into fertilizer.

FARMER

Will you lookee here! Never saw cotton grow like this before!

GEORGE

Let’s call it Carver’s Hybrid. I like the name.

FARMER

Will you look at that!

GEORGE

It’s the soil, Man.

FARMER

We’re growing six times as much as what we grew the year before! This is more cotton

than any farm in the area!

GEORGE

See, if you plant peanuts and legumes, which are part of the legume family, they restore

nitrogen to the soil while also providing protein.

FARMER

Peanuts? All this from the measly peanut?

GEORGE

32

Come with me and we can tell all the farmers. We’ll make ourselves a movable school.

FARMERS

Farmers! We’ve got ourselves peanuts. This nut-and I’m not talking about our friend the

Carver fella, these peanuts gonna change our lives!

GEORGE

(clears throat)

They’ll promote good health, sound nutrition and self-sufficiency.

FARMER

Yeah. What he said!

GEORGE

We did it, Man.

(FARMER stands back as MAN in overalls enters.)

MAN

Boy!

GEORGE

Sir.

MAN

Who do you think you are?

GEORGE

A Peanut Man. That’s all.

MAN

Planting, inventing, experimenting. You think you’re better than everybody else!

GEORGE

God put me on this planet to settle troubled waters. He made his students work hard, and

he insisted they do each experiment right. If they told him they had done something

"about right", he would say, "Don't tell me it's 'about right'. If it's 'about right', then it's

wrong."

MAN

You watch your back.

GEORGE

I just want to show you. Since new products come from creativity, we must encourage

that creative mind in every way.

MAN

33

NO. You don’t talk to me no more. You hear?

(MAN turns his back. FARMER plows)

GEORGE

I hear, but that isn’t going to keep me from helping the black people.

FARMER

Oh, no. You leave that soybean alone. I see that look in your eye, Mr. Carver. And that’s

an I got an idea for the soybean kind of look!

GEORGE

Look! We can produce dyes of five hundred different shades of paint and stains, all from

the soybean. Try this-extracting blue, purple and red pigments from the clay!

FARMER

Thanks to you, Sir, sure can’t call the south a one-crop land.

GEORGE

Come on, everybody, plant peanuts!

FARMER

As you say, Peanut Man!

GEORGE

Peanut Man! Ooh, I like that!

FARMER

George! Problem! Big problem!

GEORGE

All these peanuts-

FARMER

Sure they’re growing well, but-

GEORGE

Too well!

FARMER

There’s peanuts in the ground, peanuts bursting to the sky, everywhere you look there’s

peanuts, peanuts, peanuts! Carver! What in heaven’s name are we going to do with all

these peanuts?

GEORGE

They’re rotting!

34

FARMER

Overflowing in every warehouse. Whoo ee. I’ve never seen so many peanuts in one

place!

GEORGE

I’ve got to go.

FARMER

Wait! You can’t just hide. Someone’s got to explain all these nuts!

GEORGE

I’m sorry. I just can’t deal with people right now.

FARMER

You come back here this minute! Don’t you lock yourself in that laboratory! You can’t

hide from us, Peanut Man !

GEORGE

Please God, why did You make the peanut? All those hundreds and hundreds of peanuts!

FARMER

It’s been three days you’ve been locked in that laboratory, George. What do you have to

say to us now?

GEORGE

(exits from laboratory)

You’re not going to believe this!

FARMER

Oh, no! Here we go again!

GEORGE

I learned we could make three hundred twenty products from the peanut plant!

FARMER

Never heard of such a thing!

GEORGE

Adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, ink, instant coffee-

FARMER

Instant coffee, huh?

GEORGE

35

Linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic

FARMER

PLASTIC!

GEORGE

Pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder, cheese, milk,

flour, wood, soaps, cosmetics!

From cooking oil to printer’s ink

Synthetic rubber, and cheese to eat

From paving highways and chili sauce

From adhesives to axle grease

Peanuts, look what you can do with peanuts

How you can take a legume

And make it into shaving cream!

Peanuts, look what you can do with peanuts

How you can take junk

And turn it into an inventor’s dream!

FARMER

Oh, what’s next? Now you’re going to tell me there are a hundred uses for a sweet

potato?

GEORGE

A hundred eighteen!

FARMER

No way.

GEORGE

Look! Flour, vinegar, molasses, rubber, and even postage stamp glue all from the potato!

FARMER

Now that’s sweet!

GEORGE

All because we rotated the soil so the new crops could grow!

36

SCENE TEN: (FARMER, GEORGE,CONGRESSMAN, EDISON, FORD, FDR JOE,

MAMA)

FARMER

Mr. Carver, you’re not going to believe it, but there’s a man from Congress on the phone.

GEORGE

A lawmaker for me?

FARMER

From Washington, DC!

GEORGE

Three states north of Alabama! Hello?

CONGRESSMAN

(on the telephone, wearing a tall, black hat.)

Mr. Carver?

GEORGE

Peanut Man, at your service.

CONGRESSMAN

Would you like to speak to Congress about these discoveries and the usefulness of

peanuts?

GEORGE

Would I? A black man like me! So I traveled to Washington.

CONGRESSMAN

Mr. Carver. I’m afraid you have five minutes tops to state your case.

GEORGE

Gentlemen of the Congresss, where before our soil was depleted, now it is rich and

fertile.

CONGRESSMAN

Alright. Perhaps five minutes more.

37

GEORGE

Peanuts are now one of the leading crops in the United States. CONGRESSMAN

We are running out of time, Mr. Carver.

GEORGE

Since we have been growing them, they have become a chief product of Alabama.

CONGRESSMAN

I suppose five more minutes won’t hurt.

GEORGE

And a two hundred million dollar industry.

CONGRESSMAN

Two hundred million! Well! I see no other choice, Sir, but to propose to Congress to allot

five million acres of peanuts for to farmers! Sir! (exits)

GEORGE

Five million acres! Now that’s no small peanuts.

FARMER

Ooh, you’re going to be rich, rich, rich.

GEORGE

God gave the ideas to me. How could I sell them to someone else.

FARMER

How! Easily! You’re going to sell them things and be in charge of the world just like the

white man.

GEORGE

Not my dream.

FARMER

You’ve got to make money! What about the patents you own on your three inventions!

Don’t you want to be a success!

GEORGE

To me, service measures success.

FARMER (EDISON enters, holding WIRE, and a

battery)

You think that’s what Thomas Edison would say! The inventor of the light bulb!

38

GEORGE

Why don’t we ask him ourselves.

FARMER

Ask Thomas Edison.

GEORGE

Why not. I bet HE has a bright idea.

39

SCENE ELEVEN (EDISON, GEORGE, MAMA, FORD)

EDISON

Do I! Used to drive my Mama crazy with my questions. Mama, how does a hen hatch

chickens? Why does water put out a fire? What makes birds fly?

GEORGE

You didn’t really put geese and hen eggs in a basket and sit on them?

EDISON

I admit, sometimes curiosity kills more than the cat! Mr. Carver, I’d like to hire you to

invent with me for one hundred thousand dollars a year.

MAMA

May as well be a million dollars a year!

EDISON

Know what they say-or I guess it’s me that said it-genius is one per cent inspiration and

ninety-nine percent perspiration.

GEORGE

That’s a lot of perspiration for 1093 patented inventions!

EDISON

Like you, I like to develop devices that work under ordinary conditions and are easy to

repair. But this-

(holding a wire and a battery)

10,000 times I’ve tried experiments with a storage battery trying to search for the wire

that would give light. But I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work!

(HENRY FORD enters, a model of a Model T,

in hand.)

GEORGE

Look! Look who’s pulling up in his 1908 Model T! I believe it’s the great automobile

manufacturer, Henry Ford, himself!

FORD

Carver, you know about my car factory in Dearborn, Michigan.

GEORGE

(whispers to us)

40

Four states north of Alabama.

FORD

I heard you are finding new things to do with plants n weeds.

GEORGE

The goldenrod. Sure is pretty.

FORD

Come with me and we’ll find new uses for this plant of yours.

GEORGE

We take Edison too?

FORD

Don’t see why not.

GEORGE

So we went to Michigan, the mitten state, and lo and behold…It’s beautiful, Sir!

FORD

I built this laboratory just for you, Carver.

GEORGE

It has everything. Plants. More plants. Even more plants!

FORD

I will be patient. Have you invented anything yet?

GEORGE

Mr. Ford!

FORD

Oh, sorry, sorry. I get so impatient. Now?

GEORGE

Patience. All in good time. All in-

FORD

Now did you invent something?

GEORGE

Henry!

FORD

41

I’m patient. I’m patient. Okay, so I’m not patient!

GEORGE

I’ve got it!

FORD

Finally!

GEORGE

We could use the goldenrod to create synthetic rubber!

FORD

Now all we need is an alternative fuel.

GEORGE

I’ve got it-soy!

FORD

Think, think. What could we use the soy for?

GEORGE

I’ve got it! Plastics!

FORD

Plastics!

GEORGE

(to us)

Plastics-a compound capable of being molded, cast into various shapes, or used as textile

fibers.

(to FORD)

Yes, it doesn’t dent. It would be perfect-

FORD

To put on my cars!

GEORGE

Now THAT’s a bright idea, ay, Mr. Edison?

EDISON

This is it! Mr. Carver, you have to move to Orange Grove, New Jersey with me, and we

can invent together. Think of what we can create!

GEORGE

New Jersey. Five states north of Alabama.

42

EDISON

I’ll tell you what. You by my partner, I’ll throw in an annual salary of one hundred

thousand dollars a year!

GEORGE

See, Mr. Edison, the style of clothes one wears, kind of automobile one drives, nor the

amount of money one has in the bank matters. They don’t mean anything to me.

EDISON

But I’m offering you a fortune, George!

GEORGE

Henry, you understand, don’t you?

(FORD bows. FARMER dons his bandana.)

43

SCENE TWELVE (FARMER, GEORGE, CONGRESSMAN)

FARMER

Don’t know about him. But I don’t think I do. Uh oh. Why are you looking at those wood

shavings like that? I know that look, Mr. Carver!

GEORGE

I was thinking-

FARMER

Watch out, World!

GEORGE

We can make synthetic marble out of it!

FARMER

Next you’ll be telling me you can make something out of this ol’ palmetto root here!

GEORGE

Sure. Veneers.

FARMER

But a cornstalk is just a cornstalk!

GEORGE

Until you turn it into rope!

FARMER

Soybeans are soybeans just as plain as the nose on my face!

GEORGE

But they could also be paints and stains! Five hundred shades.

FARMER

Lookee here! All this research you’ve done at Tuskegee. They’re going to give you…oh,

I never even heard of a number so big! Thirty thousand dollars!

44

GEORGE

All for charity.

FARMER

If you don’t get patents for your discoveries I will!

GEORGE

God gave these discoveries to me, how can I sell them to someone else? Besides, I have

enough to worry about with all these peanuts we’re getting from China.

FARMER

Hurting our business, I’ll tell you that!

GEORGE

Then we’ll have to tax China. That’s what I’m going to tell those officials at the tariff

meeting.

FARMER

No one’s going to listen to black man.

GEORGE

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with

the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because

someday, you will have been all of these.

FARMER

I’m behind you. All us farmers are. But we don’t know-

45

SCENE THIRTEEN: (GEORGE, CONGRESSMAN, ROOSEVELT, FDR, FARMER,

MAMA, FLOWER, BOOKER T, JOE, EDISON, FORD, MOSES)

GEORGE

Washington, D.C. Congressman, I speak before you.

CONGRESSMAN

(impatient)

You have ten minutes.

GEORGE

Our own southern farmers need to grow peanuts and tax those from China.

CONGRESSMAN

Ten more minutes.

GEORGE

We could make Worcester sauce from peanuts!

CONGRESSMAN

Ten more, and that’s it!

GEORGE

Varnishing cream!

CONGRESSMAN

Next you’ll be suggesting peanut butter.

GEORGE

No, I didn’t invent that, but I did invent rubbing cream!

CONGRESSMAN

Rubbing cream! I dare say, Mr. Carver, we unanimously vote in the tax on Chinese

peanuts. You’ll be so famous, there will be no living with you now. Look, Mr. Carver.

Our youngest president, Theodore Roosevelt, is calling on a black man!

ROOSEVELT

You believe as I do, Mr. Carver, in a life of strenuous endeavor.

GEORGE

Thank you for adding 150 million acres to our national forests.

46

ROOSEVELT

In our time, Mr. Carver, great inventors have worked their magic. In 1903 the Wright

Brothers took their first flight. In1905 Albert Einstein wrote the theory of relativity.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed his prairie style house, and Marconi sent the first

radio waves across the Atlantic! And you, Sir, known nationwide as the Peanut Man,

have made peanuts a two hundred million dollar industry in Alabama. All I could say,

Mr. Carver, is speak softly and carry a big stick. Meet my cousin, who will be our 32nd,

president.

GEORGE

Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

FDR

Congratulations, Mr. Carver.

GEORGE

I never thought I’d meet the president who has been elected four times.

FDR

Like you, George, I want to help the forgotten man. The farmer. I have a plan called the

New Deal, which will help your farmers.

FARMER

Thank you, President!

FDR

Never be afraid, Mr. Carver. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

GEORGE

Mama, you have taught me to take hold of the things that are here. Let them talk to you.

MAMA

As you talk to flowers. George will be leaving Earth soon, won’t he, Flower?

FLOWER

Yes, but he’ll be joining you.

MAMA

My son has always been with me. Until 1943, when he died. Seventy-nine years old!

47

FDR

And he got buried next to me, his friend, Booker T. Washington. And an amazing thing

happened, President FDR himself came to the funeral!

BOOKER T

I dedicate $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument where Carver

had spent time in his childhood.

FORD

This dedication marks the first national monument dedicated to an African-American

ROOSEVELT

On his grave, these words were written: He could have added fortune to fame, but caring

for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.

MAMA

My son, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

GEORGE

She seems proud, doesn’t she?

JOE

The Spingarn Medal from the Association for the Advancement of Colored People

FDR

Man of the Year in 1940 by the International Federation of Architects, Engineers,

Chemists, and Technicians.

EDISON

He was inducted in the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame.

FORD

I built you a model of your Missouri slave cabin where you were born. I hope you like it.

GEORGE

You don’t have to say all these nice things. It’s enough to me just to be the Peanut Man!

MAMA

Who can take a legume

Plant it in the ground

Rotate the cotton to better the soil

The Peanut Man Can,

Yes the Peanut Man Can!

The Peanut Man takes all the junk he finds

And discovers a new use for it

48

From child sauce to linoleum

The Peanut Man will retool it

GEORGE

Give me a million dollars

And I won’t off

Offer to send me on expeditions

When you pursue what you love

The wealth comes right with it.

MAMA and GEORGE

When you pursue what you love

The wealth comes right with it

The richest person in the world

Uses his talents to the fullest.

MOSES

The Peanut Man takes all the junk he finds

And discovers its new uses

From chili sauce to linoleum

The Peanut Man can

(GEORGE pins a flower on the FARMER)

ALL

The Peanut Man can!

(All bow. Play is over. Players answer questions.)

FDR

George Washington Carver wasn’t the only black inventor. Before we go today, we’d

like to introduce you to a few important African Americans who made a difference in

history with their inventions.

Madame CJ Walker

Was well aware

There was a special need

For black folks’ hair

So with just two dollars in her pocket to spare

She created shampoo for black hair care!

Daniel Hail Williams

Apprenticed to be a physician

Performed the first open heart surgery

In his patient’s own kitchen.

49

FDR

Sarah Goode realized she needed more space

So discovered a way to put her bed in a new place

With a patent, the first for a black woman, they said,

She invented the folding cabinet bed.

Benjamin Banneker used to take apart watches

Put them together with a tick tock

So it’s no surprise he invented

the very first clock.

Miriam Benjamin knew that customers

At restaurants were not patient

So she put a button on each chair

To buzz the waiter’s station.

M.A. Cherry took a cycle with a seat,

the velocipede, and added a metal frame,

Attached pedals and two new wheels-

Inventing the bicycle, her claim to fame!

Inventors are curious

Persistent overall

Inventors are convinced

No idea is too small.

Inventors solve problems

With creativity it’s true

And this school year…The next inventor could be you!

The End