Joy Parnosky
Interim Principal
parnojo@tulsaschools.org

Dwight Holdman
Assistant Principal
holdmdw@tulsaschools.org

Namesake

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) was born a slave in Diamond Grove, Missouri. He is one of the nation's most famous agricultural scientists and is best known for his research on peanuts and his commitment to helping poor Southern African-American farmers. He is also known for actively promoting alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. In an era of racial polarization, his fame reached beyond the African American community. He was widely recognized and praised in the white community for his many achievements and talents. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed Carver a “Black Leonardo.” Carver worked at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for most of his adult life. He was the head of the agricultural department and director of agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama from 1886 to 1943. In 1943, soon after Carver's death, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made Carver's boyhood home a national monument. It was the first national monument to honor an African American.

Key Contributions

Carver is widely known for developing industrial uses for peanuts and methods to prevent soil depletion and improve the productivity of farm land. His work is widely considered to have improved the quality of life for millions. His legacy of determination, intelligence, and ingenuity are consistent with community values.
Just about everyone would respect and look up to Carver as his contributions positively affected all people. Carver is a symbol of the intellectual achievements of African Americans immediately after the abolition of slavery. However, Carver appeared to be uninterested in the role his image played in the racial politics of the time. His desire in life was simply to serve humanity. His work, which began for the sake of the poorest of the African American sharecroppers, paved the way for a better life for the entire South.

History of our school

The school opened in 1928. This is the time frame of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, when Carver’s contributions to society would have been greatly respected and appreciated by all.