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Carver scholar
Paxton Williams has made a career out of his honors
project on George Washington Carver.
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- Every schoolchild in the nation knows about George Washington Carver
and the peanut.
Many associate Carver with the Tuskegee Institute and Booker T. Washington.
Few know much more than that about Iowa State's most famous alumnus.
You used to be able to count Paxton Williams as one of those individuals.
"I grew up learning what many of us did about Dr. Carver - the peanut,
Tuskegee and Booker T. Washington," said the 2000 Iowa State political
science graduate. "I had no idea he had any connections to Iowa until
I came to Iowa State as a student."
Now Williams is the executive director of the George Washington Carver
Birthplace District Association, an organization associated with the Carver
National Monument run by the National Park Service in Diamond, Mo.
Quite a jump for someone who less than 10 years ago didn't know anything
more about Dr. Carver than the average schoolchild.
Williams came to Iowa State as a Carver Scholar and when the university
held a yearlong celebration honoring Carver's legacy, he attended several
of the events. His interest was piqued, and he took an honors seminar
taught by Harold "Sande" McNabb, an Iowa State plant pathologist
and expert on Carver's horticultural achievements.
A trip to the Carver National Monument in Diamond furthered his fascination
with the man who mastered chemistry, botany, mycology, music, herbalism,
art and cooking.
"During a conversation I had with Sande, the idea of a play, a one-man
show, came about," Williams said. "But I really hadn't thought
about actually going through with it.
"Then Liz (Beck, former Honors Program director) starting telling
everyone that ‘Paxton is doing this great honors project' and it just
took off from there."
The result was "Listening to the Still Small Voice: The Life and
Works of George Washington Carver," the one-man play Williams has
now performed almost 50 times in eight states and in England.
The first script Williams wrote for his honors project is a far cry from
the play he continues to do to this day.
"I showed my script to Jane Cox (ISU Theatre professor), and while
I can't say she said it was crap she didn't say it was genius either,"
Williams said. "Jane told me ‘Paxton this is your play about Dr.
Carver - you play it anyway you want.'"
In the first versions of "Listening to the Still Small Voice,"
Williams included scenes from Carver's life. In today's version, he plays
Carver giving a lecture near the end of his life, all the while interacting
with the audience.
"Dr. Carver's life is such a great story," he said. "People
thank me for sharing it with them. I find it's a great tool to educate
and inspire.
"I like to use the arts to create an inclusive community. This play
is my way to help bring people together."
In the five years since Williams' graduation from Iowa State, he has gone
to graduate school at the University of Michigan, to England as a Rotary
Ambassadorial Scholar and to Washington, D.C., for a position at a policy
advocacy non-profit.
At each place, Williams says that Carver and the play have followed him.
The play is a way that he can continue to inform people about Carver's
life and legacy. It now goes hand-in-hand with his new role as the executive
director of the Carver Birthplace Association, a job he started in October
2005.
The association, which was established in the 1940s and was the driving
force behind Congress' creation of the Carver National Monument, remains
the cooperating association to the National Park Service at the Carver
National Monument. The 501 (c-3) nonprofit organization operates the concessions,
including the bookstore, at the national park. Approximately 65,000 people
visit the site every year, but Williams is hopeful that will increase
with a new $5.4 million visitor's center.
One of his goals is to make the Carver National Monument a destination
spot for tourists. Williams has also been charged with fundraising for
the new exhibits on Carver's life at the visitor's center.
"I have the opportunity to create something lasting," he said,
"all while getting the chance to promote Dr. Carver's legacy.
"Every day I go to work, I get to walk where he walked as a child.
It's a nice setting to be inspired."
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Paxton Williams
Political Science Today
Fall 2005
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