"Black Leonardo"----G.W. Carver
From wiki:--Don't know why I thought of this, but the "Black Leonardo" got me.
George Washington Carver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born
1860s
Diamond, Missouri, U.S.
Died
January 5, 1943 (about 80 years old)
Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.
Awards
Spingarn Medal (1923)
George Washington Carver (1860s[2][3] – January 5, 1943), was an American botanist and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he was born into slavery in Missouri, either in 1861, or January 1864.[3]
Carver's reputation is largely based on his promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their quality of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. He spent years developing and promoting numerous products made from peanuts; none were commercially successful.[4] He was also a leader in promoting environmentalism.[5] He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.
In an era of very high racial polarization, his fame reached beyond the black 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".[6]
