George Washington Carver Papers Donated to Clemson University

In 1923 George Washington Carver, the distinguished agricultural chemist who developed hundreds of soybean and peanut products, was the first African American invited to speak at the then all-white Clemson University in South Carolina. A decade later, Clemson chemistry instructor Wallace Friday took two Clemson students to visit Carver at his laboratory on the campus of Tuskegee University.

One of the students, Kelley E. Traynham, saved photographs and letters he received from Carver after visiting Tuskegee. These documents were recently donated to the Clemson special collections library by Traynham’s widow.

Traynham graduated from Clemson with a degree in agriculture chemistry. He later became an executive for the textile firm J.P. Stevens.

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