Key ideas: history 4

A Monument for a Bug?

1. What do an insect, a scientist, a farmer, and a goober have in common? They all led to the nation’s only statue to a destructive pest, the boll weevil.
2. Prior to the 1920s, goobers (known today as peanuts) were a pretty worthless crop. They were mainly used for animal feed. Cotton was the big crop for Southern farmers at the time. That all changed when a tiny insect—the boll weevil—moved into Enterprise, Alabama. The unwelcome pest destroyed two-thirds of the farmers’ cotton crops!
3. So why would people want to honor this devastating bug? The answer is less about the weevil. It’s more about remembering how new ideas change history.
4. In 1916, a farmer named C. W. Baston took a chance. He’d heard about all the uses a scientist named George Washington Carver had discovered for peanuts. People’s thoughts about peanuts were changing. They could now be found on tables in everything from coffee to desserts. They were even being used to make things like paper and glue. The farmer decided to try growing peanuts instead of cotton.
5. Baston’s peanut crop was wildly successful. That year he made $8,000. That’s about the same as $200,000 today. Other farmers were amazed at his success. Their own cotton crops had failed again. They needed to do something to save their farms—and fast! The next year, many farmers ditched cotton. Instead, they grew peanuts—loads of peanuts! Farmers in the area grew enough peanuts to fill over a thousand semi-trucks! Their farms were saved.
6. The people of Enterprise decided to thank the boll weevil. A local business owner paid for a statue to be placed downtown. It still stands today. It’s a reminder of a time when one farmer, one scientist, and one peanut crop changed history.