DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — Decatur may have been the first city in the state to name a school in honor of George Washington Carver, and a group of local historians is trying to secure a historical marker for the site that Carver once visited.
“This school is an important part of the city’s history and should be recognized as such,” said Wylheme Ragland, a retired pastor and historian who recently found a 1938 editorial in The Decatur Daily that called for a marker to be placed at the school.
“It’s time,” he said.
Carver, who was born a slave, became a botanist and a prominent scientist and inventor, as well as a teacher at Tuskegee Institute. His work with peanuts led to the creation of more than 100 products, including dyes, plastics and gasoline.
Local historian Peggy Towns said Carver visited Decatur in 1935 and that Carver Elementary (known today as Horizon School) on Church Street was named in his honor.