The Farmers' Manual and Complete Cotton Book

James Lawrence Nichols was a North-Western (now North Central) College professor, publisher, businessman and benefactor to the Nichols Library and North Central College. Naperville, Illinois

George Washington Carver (1860s – January 5, 1943), was an American botanistand inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he was born into slavery in Missouri, either in 1861, or January 1864.

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. He was also a leader in promoting environmentalism. 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".