4 College Man

Chapter 4 College Man In 1884, an envelope addressed to George Washington Carver arrived from Highland College in Highland, Kansas. George ripped open the envelope. The school had accepted George as a student. He was going to college! George was thrilled. He packed his bags, said good-bye to his friends, and took the train to Highland, about seventy-five miles away. But when he arrived on campus, school

1884年，一封寄给乔治·华盛顿·卡弗的信封从堪萨斯州的高地学院寄来。 乔治撕开信封。 学校已收乔治为学生。 他要上大学了！乔治很激动。 他收拾好行李，向朋友们告别，坐上火车去了大约75英里外的高地。 但当他来到校园，学校

administrators told him he couldn't attend after all. He was black, and the school didn't accept nonwhites. Highland didn't know George was black when he applied by mail. George was crushed. He was twenty years old, and he had no idea what to do next. He stayed in Highland about a year, cleaning and doing laundry for the Beeler family there. When the Beelers' son moved to Ness County, Kansas, in the mid-1880s to become a homesteader, George went with him. In Ness County, George

管理人员告诉他，他根本不能参加。 他是黑人，而学校不接受非白人。 海兰德邮寄申请的时候并不知道乔治是黑人。 乔治崩溃了。他才20岁，不知道下一步该做什么。 他在高地呆了大约一年，为那里的比勒一家打扫卫生、洗衣服。 19世纪80年代中期，当比勒夫妇的儿子搬到堪萨斯州内斯县成为一名自耕农时，乔治也跟着去了。 在内斯县，乔治

worked for another settler named George Steeley, then claimed his own homestead. Frontier life was difficult. In western Kansas, George built a small house made of sod. Sod is made of pads of grass, its roots, and the dirt the roots are clinging to. The house was fourteen feet on each side. He kept it "neat, clean, and decorated with flowers and objects of interest," according to one neighbor. George planted vegetables and raised hens. Summers were hot, winters were cold, and water was sometimes hard to find. Communities of homesteaders were often close-knit groups regardless of color. George, one of the few black people in the area, was well-liked. He painted and sketched, played his accordion, and was helpful to neighbors. George planted trees and collected hundreds of plants. He watched carefully to see which plants grew best under what conditions.

为另一位名叫乔治·斯蒂尔的定居者工作，然后要求拥有自己的家园。 拓荒者的生活很艰难。 在堪萨斯州西部，乔治用草皮盖了一座小房子。 草皮是由草垫、草根和草根附着的泥土组成的。 这房子每边长14英尺。 据一位邻居说，他把房子保持得“整洁、干净，并装饰着鲜花和有趣的物品”。 乔治种蔬菜，养母鸡。 夏天很热，冬天很冷，有时很难找到水。 自耕农的社区往往是不分肤色的紧密团体。 乔治是这个地区为数不多的黑人之一，很受欢迎。 他画画、素描，拉手风琴，帮助邻居。 乔治种树，收集了数百株植物。 他仔细观察哪种植物在什么条件下生长得最好。

HOMESTEADING WITH PLENTY OF LAND AVAILABLE FOR SETTLING ON THE US FRONTIER, PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNED INTO LAW THE HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862. IT ALLOWED SETTLERS, CALLED HOMESTEADERS, TO FILE A CLAIM FOR 160 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND. THE HOMESTEADERS AGREED TO LIVE ON THE LAND, IMPROVE IT, AND FARM IT FOR FIVE YEARS. AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS, THEY HAD TO PAY ONLY A SMALL FEE—IT WAS $24 WHEN GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER WAS A

由于在美国边境有大量土地可供定居，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统于1862年签署了《宅地法》。 它允许被称为自耕农的定居者申请160英亩的公共土地。 自耕农们同意住在这片土地上，改良土地，耕种五年。 在5年期满时，他们只需要支付一小笔费用——乔治·华盛顿·卡佛4岁的时候

HOMESTEADER—TO BECOME THE LANDOWNERS. IF THEY DIDN'T WANT TO WAIT FIVE YEARS, HOMESTEADERS COULD PURCHASE THE LAND FOR $1.25 AN ACRE AFTER ONLY SIX MONTHS. MOST HOMESTEADING TOOK PLACE IN THE LAND WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. MORE THAN 1.6 MILLION PEOPLE MADE HOMESTEAD CLAIMS. IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FARMERS AND FREED SLAVES TO OWN THEIR OWN LAND AND TO BUILD BETTER LIVES FOR THEMSELVES. BUT THE HOMESTEAD ACT WAS POSSIBLE ONLY BECAUSE THE US GOVERNMENT HAD FORCED SO MANY NATIVE AMERICANS OFF THEIR LAND.

自耕农——成为土地所有者。 如果他们不想等五年，自耕农可以在六个月后以每英亩0.25美元的价格购买土地。 大多数宅基地都在密西西比河以西的土地上。 超过160万人申请了宅地。 对农民和被解放的奴隶来说，这是一个拥有自己土地、为自己创造更好生活的机会。 但是，宅地法案之所以可行，只是因为美国政府迫使如此多的印第安人离开了他们的土地。

Before his five years were up, George bought the homestead with the help of a bank loan. But he couldn't make a living as a farmer. The soil was poor, and Kansas suffered a terrible drought. So in 1888, George moved to Iowa. Eventually, he turned over his homestead to the bank. In Iowa, George lived in Winterset, a mostly white town where he found a job as a cook in a hotel. In church one Sunday, a woman in the choir named Helen Milholland noticed George. She enjoyed his high-pitched singing voice. The next day, she sent her husband, Dr. John Milholland, to talk to George at the hotel and to invite him to their home.

在他的五年期满之前，乔治在银行贷款的帮助下买下了那座宅地。 但他不能以务农为生。 土壤贫瘠，堪萨斯州遭受了严重的干旱。 1888年，乔治搬到了爱荷华州。 最后，他把自己的宅基地交给了银行。 在爱荷华州，乔治住在以白人为主的小镇温特塞特，在那里他找到了一份在一家酒店当厨师的工作。 一个星期天，在教堂里，唱诗班里一个叫海伦·米尔霍兰的女人注意到了乔治。 她喜欢他高亢的歌声。 第二天，她派她的丈夫。 约翰·米尔霍兰，去旅馆和乔治谈话，并邀请他去他们家。