Charles Drew

Charles Richard Drew was born June 3, 1904 in Washington, DC. Drew was a great athlete. He won several medals for swimming and also played football and basketball. He was accepted to Amherst College in 1922 on a sports scholarship, where he played football and track.

Drew’s dream was to go to medical school but he didn’t have the money to afford it. After he graduated from Amherst in 1926, he began working as a biology instructor and coach for Morgan College, now Morgan State University. In 1928, he began applying to medical schools and enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Drew excelled in medical school. He was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society, and won a prize in neuroanatomy. Drew graduated second in his class and earned both a Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master of Surgery degree. During his internship and residency, he examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions. Drew returned to the United States after his father’s death and became an instructor at Howard University’s medical school in 1935.

In 1938, Charles Drew received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. There he developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma (blood without cells). He realized plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored for longer periods of time. He also discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstructed when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African American to earn this degree from Columbia.

As World War II raged in Europe, Drew was asked to head up a special medical effort known as "Blood for Britain." He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma from several New York hospitals, and the shipments of these overseas, to treat causalities in the war. Drew helped collect roughly 14,500 pints of plasma.

In 1941, Drew spearheaded another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. He worked on developing a blood bank to be used for United States military personnel. But he quickly became frustrated with the military's request for segregating the blood donated by African Americans. At first, the military did not want to use blood from African Americans, but they later said it could only be used for African American soldiers. Drew was outraged by this racist policy, and resigned his post after only a few months.

Drew returned to Howard University and served as a professor, heading the university's department of surgery. He also became the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital. Later that year, he became the first African American examiner for the American Board of Surgery.

In 1944, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored Drew with its 1943 Spingarn Medal for "the highest and noblest achievement" by an African American "during the preceding year or years." The award was given in recognition of Drew's blood plasma collection and distribution efforts.

On April 1, 1950, Drew and three other physicians attended a medical conference at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Drew was behind the wheel when his vehicle crashed near Burlington, North Carolina. His passengers survived, but Drew succumbed to his injuries. He left behind his wife, Minnie, and their four children.

Charles Drew was only 45 years old at the time of his death. Since his passing, Drew has received countless honors. He was featured in the United States Postal Service's Great Americans stamp series in 1981 and his name appears on educational institutions across the country. As the Reverend Jerry Moore said at Drew's funeral, Charles Drew had "a life which crowds into a handful of years' significance, so great, men will never be able to forget it."