A Historic First
Yes, George Washington Carver was the first African American student at Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) when he enrolled in 1891. He would later become the institution's first Black faculty member as well.
This was a remarkable achievement in an era when most colleges either explicitly barred Black students or created such hostile environments that attendance was impossible. Iowa State proved to be an exception that changed Carver's life.
Carver's Firsts at Iowa State
- 1891: First African American student to enroll
- 1894: First African American to earn a Bachelor's degree from the school
- 1896: First African American to earn a Master's degree from the school
- 1894-1896: First African American faculty member (as an assistant botanist)
How He Got There
Carver's path to Iowa State wasn't direct. He had previously been accepted to Highland College in Kansas, only to be rejected when he arrived and administrators saw he was Black. This devastating experience delayed his college education by five years.
He eventually enrolled at Simpson College in Iowa to study art. There, his teacher Etta Budd recognized his extraordinary talent for painting plants and encouraged him to pursue agriculture at Iowa State, where her father was a professor.
Campus Life
Initially, Carver faced discrimination at Iowa State. He was not allowed to live in the dormitories or eat in the dining hall with white students. Instead, he was given a room in an old office and ate his meals in the basement.
However, his brilliance, gentle nature, and work ethic eventually won over his classmates. He became popular, joined several campus organizations, and trained the athletic teams' masseur. By his senior year, he was fully accepted by his peers and faculty.
Faculty Position
Carver's academic performance was so exceptional that after earning his bachelor's degree in 1894, he was asked to stay on as a graduate student and assistant in the botany department. This made him Iowa State's first Black faculty member.
His work in mycology (the study of fungi) and plant pathology was groundbreaking. His professors hoped he would pursue an academic career at Iowa State, but in 1896, Booker T. Washington recruited him to Tuskegee Institute.