Contributions to American Agriculture and Life Sciences

https://go.ncsu.edu/7-contributions-of-black-farmers-to-agriculture and https://go.ncsu.edu/these-african-americans-fueled-farming 

• Dr. George Washington Carver discovered three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. Most important was the fact that he changed the South from being a one-crop land of cotton, to being multi-crop farmlands, with farmers having hundreds of profitable uses for their new crops.

• Dr. Ernest Just, was a pioneer in the parthenogenesis (developing marine eggs without fertilization). He believed that in learning about healthy cells and cell structures in animals, one could hope to understand and find cures for cellular irregularities and diseases in humans. He was recognized worldwide as one of the most outstanding zoologists of his time.

• Frederick McKinley Jones is the inventor of one of the most important inventions to modern agriculture: the refrigerated truck. From an early age, he took a strong interest in mechanics and electricity. His patented refrigeration system allowed perishable foods to be shipped to further distances and even overseas. It was installed in trucks, boats, planes, and boxcars and improved the worldwide food trade. Because of his invention, fresh seasonal produce could be enjoyed throughout the entire year. Other concepts such as frozen foods, supermarkets, and container shipping were all derived from the work of Frederick Jones.

• John W. Boyd Jr. is a fourth-generation farmer from Virginia as well as one of America's most effective defenders of civil rights. In 1995, Boyd founded the National Black Farmers Association after encountering USDA discriminatory practices and meeting many more black farmers who shared a similar experience -- he even helped ignite a lawsuit against the USDA over the agency’s treatment of Black farmers.