Tuskegee, Alabama: March 28, 1931. Exceptional ALS addressed from George Washington Carver to his friend Grady Porter, a researcher at the Huston Peanut Company, a peanut processing plant in Georgia. Dated March 28, 1931. One sheet of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead (220 x 280 mm), 2 pp. Near Fine, with original creases and one wrinkle at top edge of leaf. With Tuskegee Institute envelope (150 x 90 mm) addressed to Grady Porter at the Tom Huston Peanut Company in Columbus, Georgia. Envelope torn open at one end and a bit toned.

In this excellent letter, George Washington Carver reports on his findings after examining specimens of peanut, fig, and peach sent to him by Porter. Carver notes multiple new appearances of fungi and includes a sketch to guide Porter in his identification of a fungus in the field. It seems that Porter's specimens added more evidence to Carter's effort to identify fungus on his own peanut crops: he writes, "I found what appears to be the same thing on all the peanut vines, every sample. I could find asci [i.e., the sacs of ascoymcota fungi], but to date have found no spores, hence cannot be definitely classified. It appears to mature slowly, I found the same things on cow pea vines here last fall, but no spores." He also explains his experiments in allowing the fungi to grow so they can be examined in a mature state.

Carver is, of course, best known for his work with peanut cultivation. Carver promoted the cultivation of peanuts by Black farmers, in particular, as a part of his Tuskegee Institute outreach programs: "in a wagon equipped as a mobile school, and in agricultural bulletins, Carver taught how to improve soil fertility without commercial fertilizer, how to make paints from native clays, and how to grow crops that would replace purchased commodities. He especially advocated peanuts as an inexpensive source of protein and published several bulletins containing peanut recipes" (ANB). This letter, then, represents Carver's continuing agricultural research, his efforts to safeguard farmers against further economic precarity, and his concern for the environmental impact of commercial farming.

The letter also demonstrates one of Carver's great strengths: his knack for scientific communication, particularly his ability to liaise between the scientific community and outsiders – whether those outsiders were local farmers, members of agribusiness, or the United States House of Representatives. Here, Carver acts in his dual roles as a researcher for the Tuskegee Institute and as a consultant for the Tom Huston Peanut Company, where Grady Porter worked. Carver served as a consultant to the company for ten years, advising on food safety and the scientific side of agribusiness (Columbus Historical Society). Near Fine (Item #8123)