INDIANOLA, Iowa — Last summer Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that declared February 1 George Washington Carver day in the state of Iowa.

Carver became famous for his work with peanuts, developing over 300 products from peanuts. His work began in college, at Simpson College in Indianola. He graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelors and a masters degree.

“Thanks to the efforts of Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, Simon Estes, and the encouragement, of Simpson College President Marsha Kelliher, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation declaring February 1 to be the inaugural George Washington Carver recognition day.” said Tisha Carter-Smith, the Associate Director of Multi-Cultural Affairs at Simpson College.

The school held a ceremony and a presentation on the life of Carver.

“As we recognize, although once enslaved, George Washington Carver’s work has benefited people of every race, gender, and creed,” said President Kelliher.

On the town square in Indianola local history buffs staged a walk around the square visiting different buildings from the time when Carver lived in town.

“This building we are now in and the building right next to it was built in 1875,” said Joel Hade, one of the downtown tour guides. “It was called the Union Block, George Carver attended college here in 1890 so it was built before him.”

At the Warren County Historical Society they built a new George Washington Carver Museum building around an old cabin, which Carver used to live in when he was a student at Simpson.

“It appears as an old shack it actually at the time was located very close to Simpson College across the street from it,” said Debra Taylor, of the Warren County Historical Society. “It was at this location that George Washington Carver came and set up his laundry business, and he would perform laundry services for fellow students at Simpson College.”

“He loved nature, he loved God, he loved learning anything he could, and he was always a very humble person who was very grateful for the opportunities that were given to him,” said Linda Griffith Smith, of the Madison County Historical Society. “Those are qualities we all like to find in a person.”

Smith gave a presentation on Carver’s life from her research, when he lived in her town of Winterset, before he moved to Indianola.