George Washington Carver Prairie Day

Prairie Day returns! You are invited to Prairie Day on Saturday, September 10^th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Held in conjunction with Gem City Days, Prairie Day commemorates George Washington Carver’s childhood environment through music, historic skills demonstrations, educational activities, and interactive exhibits. Prairie Day is free of charge.

Exhibitors will share Civil War history, archaeology, and demonstrations including basket making, treadle sewing machine, crochet and knitting, and woodcarving. The Town and Country Quilters Guild returns with a quilting bee. Kids will want to earn a special Junior Ranger badge and visit the horses from Trinity Circle Horses Healing Hearts.

Natural resource exhibits include prairie ecology and the role of fire on the prairie, pollinators, entomology, Ozark Dark Skies, and the bison that once grazed the land. Take a prairie walk with a naturalist. The music tent features talented musicians who will share history of Appalachia and the Ozarks in music and song. The schedule follows:

10:00 a.m.                           Lannum Litherland, youth fiddler

11:00 a.m. & 1:00 p.m.     Josh Gilbert and Abbey Waterworth

12:00 p.m.                           Pickers Post

2:00   p.m.                           Nathan McAlister and Lee Ann Sours

At the 1881 Carver House, volunteers will share their talent and knowledge as they demonstrate historic skills such as spinning, weaving, Dutch oven cooking, making lye soap, food preservation, and butter making. Make butter, dip a candle, and do laundry on a washboard. Enjoy music at the Carver House, too! The schedule follows:

11:00 a.m.                           Bill and Ann Riggs

12:00 p.m.                           Buffalo Creek Incident

2:00   p.m.                           Pickers Post

Prairie Day is co-sponsored by the Carver Birthplace Association, with support from the Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau. Special thanks to the Volunteers In Parks, who make this program possible. The Diamond Lions Club will provide a food concession. Mark your calendar and save the date for Prairie Day, September 10^th!

Administered by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, scientist, educator, and humanitarian. Please call the park at 417-325-4151 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. for further information. Visit our website at www.nps.gov/gwca and Facebook page. The park is located two miles west of Diamond, Missouri, on Highway V, then south ¼ mile on Carver Road.