This week we will honor three heroes who all share a connection.
Allow me to introduce: Norman Borlaug, Henry Wallace, and George Washington Carver
These men are considered by many to be among the smartest of the 20th Century. All three of them came from different families and different backgrounds. They also had different jobs within their lives. However, despite their differences they are all connected in way. This is because all three of these men made significant developments in agriculture. These developments are credited with saving the lives of over 2 billion people.
George Washington Carver was born to a family of former slaves in the 1860s in Diamond, Missouri. Carver is mostly known for successfully developing 266 products from the peanut. Many of these products are still used today. Carver is also known for developing about 88 products from the sweet potato. He did all of this while battling racism and prejudice around him. However, one of Carver's greatest (and lesser known) contributions was when he met a young six year old boy while he was attending Iowa State University. One day, Carver escorted the boy through a botanical garden and shared his fascination of plants with the latter. This boy's name was Henry Wallace. And he would never forget his experience with George Washington Carver.
Henry Wallace was born on October 7, 1888 in Orient, Iowa. While growing up on a farm made Wallace very interested in learning about plants, it was his meeting with George Washington Carver that inspired him to begin experimenting with them. One plant that he was particularly interested in was corn. Wallace dedicated most of his young life to studying corn and eventually developed some of the very first hybrid corn varieties. His developments in agriculture led him to be selected as Secretary of Agriculture for President Franklin Roosevelt and eventually vice-president of the United States. During his time as vice-president, Wallace took a trip down to the country of Mexico. There he discovered how important corn was to the Mexican people's diet. Wallace than got the idea to build agriculture experimental stations in Mexico in order improve corn varieties and adapt them to the climate and soil of Mexico. His idea was approved, and a station was established in Mexico. One of the scientists who joined the station was a man named Norman Borlaug.
Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914 in Cresco, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics. Later in his life, Borlaug took up a job position at the agriculture experimental station in Mexico that was built by the Rockefeller Foundation. While he was there, Borlaug found a way to hybridize high-yeild corn and also wheat that was disease resistant. As a direct result of this, corn production at the station doubled and wheat production dramatically increased five-fold. The method he used was repeated not only in Mexico, but around the world. In the continents of Asia, Africa, South America, North America, and Europe, Borlaug's seed product was used time and again to the present day. It is estimated that over 2 billion lives were saved as a direct result of this. Borlaug was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his developments in agriculture.
Many achievements and wonderful acts can be credited to certain people. But sometimes history proves that one person's discoveries and acts can lead to another's great acts in the future. George Washington Carver was a brilliant man who taught the world many things. One of those who learned from him was Henry Wallace. And it was Henry Wallace who later used his own knowledge and government positions to pass on what he learned from Carver to the rest of the world. And one of those who learned from Wallace was Norman Borlaug. And it was he who used his knowledge to teach the world an invaluable method to growing crops that has been duplicated countless times.
To put it more simply, these three men learned from each other. And as a result, 2 billion people around the world are alive today. What it should tell us is that what we teach the next generation could have a MAJOR impact in the future just like it did with Carver, Wallace, and Borlaug. I believe its safe to say that we owe these three men a lot of respect and admiration and that their link to each other should always be remembered.
Further Information:
http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/topics/borlaug/connection.html
https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/seeyouthere/2012/01/05/the-borlaug-chain/
http://lifetoday.org/connect/words-of-life/the-butterfly-effect/
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