The George Washington Carver National Park serves as both the first monument to an African American and the first monument to honor someone other than a President in the United States. This is by no mistake. George Washington Carver serves as a testament to what persistence and hard work can accomplish. Born an enslaved African in Diamond, Missouri during the 1860s, Carver rose to fame as a world renowned scientist and inventor. He was even dubbed the “Black Leonardo” by Time Magazine in 1941. It is no wonder that, in the wake of his demise, the local Black community pushed for a monument to his accolades. Even before his death, in an era where national spending was redirected towards the war effort, then Senator Harry S. Truman began the fight to dedicate something to Carver’s success. The bill unanimously passed and after Carver’s death  in 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the money needed to create the National Park.