Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow (review)

This companion book to the Field Museum's George Washington Carver exhibit exceeds standard souvenir-shop fare, offering an informative introduction to the ex-slave's landmark career in agricultural science and his dedication to improving the fortunes of some of the poorest of the nation's farmers. Although the picture-book format precludes much depth and detail, Bolden nudges beyond the facts of Carver's childhood, his groundbreaking success at an all-white college, and his tenure as professor at the Tuskegee Institute to address his religious beliefs, his grumpiness at being forever associated with peanut study, and the critique within the African-American community that he, like Booker T. Washington, "rejected open protest of segregation." Layout is exceptionally attractive, with spacious blocks of text, beautifully reproduced historical photographs "mounted" in filigreed scrapbook corners, and some of Carver's own paintings and personal effects. Source notes are provided for all quotations, and a selected bibliography is included.