Prologue: Macon County, Alabama, 1896 -- Were it not for his dusky skin -- The earnest student of nature -- The ruthless hand of Mr. Carenot -- In a strange land and among a strange people -- Teaching the beauties of nature -- Hints and suggestions to farmers -- The peanut man -- Divine inspiration -- Where the soil is wasted -- Epilogue: My work is that of conservation
Summary
Carver had a truly prolific career dedicated to studying the ways in which people ought to interact with the natural world, yet much of his work has been largely forgotten. Hersey rectifies this by tracing the evolution of Carver's agricultural and environmental thought starting with his childhood in Missouri and Kansas and his education at the Iowa Agricultural College. Carver's environmental vision came into focus when he moved to the Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama, where his sensibilities and training collided with the denuded agrosystems, deep poverty, and institutional racism of the Black Belt. --From publisher description