George Washington Carver National Monument

Updated November 6, 2020: George Washington Carver National Monument Continues Modified Operations Following guidance from The White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, George Washington Carver National Monument is operating with reduced access to indoor areas. The National Park Service (NPS) is working service-wide with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pand...emic and using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis. The following spaces continue to be available: -Carver Trail, 9am-4:30pm -Picnic area, 9am-5pm -Public Restrooms, 9am-5pm With public health in mind, the following facilities remain closed at this time: -Visitor Center -Park Store The park staff are working on reopening the park safely. "Thank you to everyone for your patience and support as we work towards a safe reopening of the park visitor center, museum and bookstore," said Superintendent Jim Heaney. The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners continues to be paramount. At George Washington Carver National Monument our operational approach will be to examine each facility function and service provided to ensure those operations comply with current public health guidance, and will be regularly monitored. We continue to work closely with the NPS Office of Public Health using CDC guidance to ensure public and workspaces are safe and clean for visitors, employees, partners, and volunteers. While these areas are accessible for visitors to enjoy, a return to full operations will continue to be phased and services may be limited. When recreating, the public should follow local area health orders, practice Leave No Trace principles, avoid crowding and avoid high-risk outdoor activities. The CDC has offered guidance to help people recreating in parks and open spaces prevent the spread of infectious diseases. We will continue to monitor all park functions to ensure that visitors adhere to CDC guidance for mitigating risks associated with the transmission of COVID-19, and take any additional steps necessary to protect public health. https://www.cdc.gov/ Details and updates on park operations will continue to be posted on our website www.nps.gov/gwca and social media channels. Updates about NPS operations will be posted on www.nps.gov/coronavirus. #Findyourvirtualpark

#ScienceSaturday The high fat content of the peanut means it can be used as a source of oil. Many of the peanuts grown today in the worldwide market are crushed not as food but to extract the oil! This oil has a number of use, like cooking, frying, soap making, paints and polishes, industrial lubrication, and biodiesel fuel. In fact, one of the first diesel engines demonstrated to the public was run on peanut oil. Some of these amazing uses of peanut oil were discovered and pioneered by George Washington Carver! Reference: https://www.biodiesel.com/history-of-biodiesel-fuel/ Photo Photo: NPS|GWCA

Huzzah! Missouri is now home to SEVEN National Park Service sites! Welcome Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park, making 422 NPS sites across the nation. ... #findyourpark

A short time ago we found how to extract milk from peanuts. Here is a bottle of peanut milk, it is absolutely impossible to tell that from cow’s milk in looks; the cream rises on it the same as on cow’s milk, and, in fact, it has much the same composition. - George Washington Carver, from his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing in 1921. In 1919, George Washington Carver had discovered a way to make a nondairy milk substitute out of the peanut. The di...scovery was noted by Walter Grubbs of the Peanut Products Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama and came to visit with Carver at Tuskegee Institute. The meeting would be the beginning of Carver's rise to fame as "The Peanut Man" as he started to meet with leaders in the rapidly growing peanut industry. Carver would be called upon to testify in defense of American peanut growers in favor of a tariff on imported peanuts before the House Ways and Means Committee in 1921. One of the way we honor George and tell of his impact is to periodically hold peanut milk making demonstrations to the public, seen here. Reference: Pages 107-108, George Washington Carver: In His Own Words, edited by Gary Kremer. Page 171, George Washington Carver, Scientist and Symbol, by Linda O. McMurry. Photo: NPS|GWCA

For #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth we wanted to take some time to emphasize some of our partners and presenters from the Native community who have performed at George Washington Carver National Monument. In the past for Storytelling Day, we had to honor of presenting Michael Pahsetopah. Mike is a member of the Osage Nation, an award-winning Oklahoma Native American dancer (World Champion Fancy Dancer), and storytelling flute player. These stories capture the Native American cu...ltural tradition to give the listeners understanding through native eyes. Mike is also an accomplished artist, musician, and actor where he has appeared in several films including, The Last of the Mohicans, in 1992. Mike, his wife, and daughter perform all over the county as the Dancing Eagles, and in 2009 were nominated by the Oklahoma Arts Council to audition for NBC’s America’s Got Talent show. Through his travels, Mike has shared his personal experiences of his heritage and has educated many about the history of the Osage nation and we look forward to partnering with him in the future. #FindYourPark #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

#WellnessWednesday What wonderful weather! Won't you walk the welcoming wandering walkways that wend waywardly at George Washington Carver National Monument on this Wellness Wednesday? #FallColors

You probably know by now that George Washington Carver is famous for his creative uses and products made from peanut. You probably also know that it is not a nut but a legume. But #DidYouKnow there were many names for the peanut? It was first called tllcacahuatl by the Aztec peoples and as Spanish would replace the Native language the word became cacahuate. The cacahuate makes its way across the ocean to Africa and Asia where it becomes a staple of food. In Kongo and Kimbu...ndu (both are Bantu languages in western Africa) the peanut was called nguba and mpinda. The ngubas and mpindas were brought to North America through the transatlantic slave trade and eaten by the enslaved Africans and grown in the soil of the South where the words transformed again to "goober" and "pindar". English-speakers gave additional names to it, such as the ground nut, ground pea, earth-nut, pindar nut, ground bean, and monkey nut. However by the middle of the 19th century, the peanut emerged as the most common name, followed by goober and pindar. Also, the scientific name for the peanut is Arachis hypogaea. What is your new favorite name for a peanut? What would you call it? Post your answers below in the goober-gallery to read. Reference: https://www.npr.org//a-legume-with-many-names-the-story-of Photo: NPS|GWCA - Painting by Paula Giltner

November is National Family Literacy Month. "When just a mere tot in short dresses my very soul thirsted for an education. I literally lived in the woods. I wanted to know every strange stone, flower, insect, bird, or beast. No one could tell me. My only book was an old Webster's Elementary Spelling book. I would seek the answer here without satisfaction. I almost knew the book by heart." -George Washington Carver Reading is such an important skill to master and is the wellsp...ring of knowledge and continual learning. George's upbringing on a remote 240-acre farm in southwestern Missouri did not offer many educational opportunities and by the evidence, Moses or Susan Carver probably did not read or write very well. Their ownership of the Webster's "Blue Back Speller" (See photo) was George's first taste of what reading could bring and the wisdom he could posses by learning to read. Helping children to read, be it your own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, or students of all ages can help them succeed. Even doing as little as one book a day or 15 minutes at a time is time well spent together. Who knows? You may inspire the next George Washington Carver! #FamilyLiteracyMonth Reference: Page 23, George Washington Carver: In His Own Words, by Gary H. Kremer Photo: https://texashistory.unt.edu//6/metapth30524/m1/1/med_res/

We are so excited for the Wonder's of the Night Sky program on November 14th. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by calling:417-325-4151. Space is limited!!

Happy November! It's Native American Heritage Month, and we are looking forward to you joining us as we explore the heritage, culture, and experience of indigenous peoples both historically and in American life today. America is a vast land of many cultures dating back thousands of years. Today, programs, partnerships, and parks preserve and share the stories and heritage of these wonderful indigenous people, including: American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian ...peoples. You can learn more by visiting: https://www.nps.gov//tellingallamer/indigenousheritage.htm #FindYourPark Photo: NPS|Patrick Myers; Indigenous peoples of the Great Sand Dunes

Happy Halloween!! Check out this park program TODAY at 1:00PM where you can investigate the symbols and engravings found on headstones in the Carver family cemetery; Discover the meaning behind these symbols and how they reflect the lives of the early settlers who are buried here.

#FigureItOutFriday What Park resource is in this picture? (Hint: If you have been to the Park before, you probably visited this joint)

2020 George Washington Carver Symposium: October 30, 2020, @1:00 pm, join the Carver Birthplace Association (CBA), Simpson College, Kansas State University, TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Lincoln University - Missouri for the #VIRTUAL #2020 #GWC Symposium! The symposium will conduct a panel titled - Regenerative Agriculture: Engaging Black and Brown Voices in Building An Inclusive Agricultural Industry. Panelists will... include Dr. Antoine Alston of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; Dr. Shannon Archibeque-Engle of Colorado State University; and Dr. Monica White of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Q & A will follow the panelists' discussion. Awards to student leaders will also be a part of the symposium. Register here: https://simpson.zoom.us//regist/WN_fDkUXXHtRnmw24Uc8Mhmgg

Equipment is not in the laboratory, but in the head of the man running it. - George Washington Carver. Ref: Page 14. Saint, Seer, and Scientist, by JH Hunter. Photo: Still from "Struggle and Triumph" NPS film

Have you been to the top of the Gateway Arch? On this day in 1965, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was completed. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of... a weighted catenary arch, at 630 ft., it is the world's tallest arch, and the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. The Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965. Today, Gateway Arch National Park consists of the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis' Old Courthouse where the first two trials of the Dred Scott case were held in 1847 and 1850. Image: Looking up at the Arch with purple clouds and blue sky. NPS/Sue Ford