Charles R. Drew

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Charles R. Drew

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Charles R. Drew

• Born on June 3, 1904 in Washington D.C. to
  parents Richard Thomas Drew and Nora Burrell
  Drew- oldest of five children
• Attended segregated elementary and secondary
  schools in Washington D.C.
• Graduated from M Street High School in 1922 with
  honors was an outstanding all-around athlete and
  was awarded scholarships which allowed him to
  attend college.

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• After high school he attended and graduated from
  Amherst College in 1926
• Drew was 1 out of 16 black students to graduate
  from Amherst from 1920-1929
• He Became a football coach at Morgan College to
  pay for his undergraduate education and to save
  money for medical school.
• Drew applied to Howard University and was
  rejected for his lack of English credits
• He then applied to Harvard and was accepted for
  the following year but did not want to wait until
  then so he applied to McGill University in
  Montreal, Canada and was accepted.

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Drews Blood Research

• It was at McGill that Drew began his research on
  blood transfusions.
• Drew, along with Dr. John Beattie began to work
  on the problem of blood storage.
• By this time the different blood types had been
  discovered but the problem of keeping blood
  readily available still existed.
• During this time he graduated from McGill with
  his Medical Degree and Master of Surgery degree
  and interned at Royal Victoria Hospital while
  continuing to work with Beattie.

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• He then accepted a one year residency for the
  next year at Freedmens Medical Hospital in
  Washington DC
• The next year he accepted a two-year residency at
  Rockefeller Fellowship and continued his blood
  work at Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital
  in New York until he earned his Doctor of Science
  Degree in 1940
• Drew was the first African American to earn this
  degree
• Here he worked with Dr. John Scudder on the
  problems associated with blood storage and
  transfusions
• Drew then returned to Washington DC to take care
  of his family and accepted a position to teach
  pathology at Howard University Medical School

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Drews Discoveries

• Drew began to look at the use of plasma as a
  substitute for whole blood because of the lack of
  red blood cells in plasma-without blood cells
  blood type was not an issue and plasma could be
  administered to anyone
• Drew then developed a method using dehydration to
  store and preserve plasma so it cold be stored
  for long periods of time and shipped if necessary
• His discoveries led him to lead the Blood for
  Britain campaign to help the wounded during WWII

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• During Blood for Britain Drew started the use
  of bloodmobiles- trucks equipped with
  refrigerators, which are still used by the Red
  Cross today
• In 1941 He became director for the American Red
  Cross Blood Bank in New York and was asked to
  organize a blood drive for the U.S. Army and Navy
  consisting of 100,000 donors.
• However, the military ordered that the blood be
  divided up by race and that African American
  donors be refused
• Drew and other scientists stated that blood did
  not differ according to race and eventually the
  government allowed African Americans to donate
  although it still remained separated.

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• Ironically, Drew was asked to resign from the
  project
• Once he had resigned from the project he came
  back to Washington DC to become professor of
  Surgery at Howard University, where he had once
  been rejected 13 years earlier. He also became
  chief surgeon at Freedmens Hospital.
• In 1943 He became the first African American
  surgeon to serve as an examiner on the American
  Board of Surgery.
• In 1944 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the
  NAACP
• In 1946 he was elected Fellow to the
  International College of Surgeons

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The Death of Drew

• On March 31, 1950 Drew and some colleagues were
  on their way to a medical meeting in Tuskegee,
  Alabama when Drew fell asleep at he wheel near
  Burlington, NC
• Drew was taken to the emergency room of Alamance
  General Hospital- a hospital owned by white
  doctors who primarily treated white patients-
  after the accident
• The doctors recognized Drew and gave him the best
  possible treatment available

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The Death of Drew

• Despite their best efforts, they were unable to
  save him or stabilize him enough to transport him
  to a better facility.
• Drew was confirmed dead two hours after the
  accident just a couple days before his 46th
  birthday
• Drews body was brought back to Suitland,
  Maryland to be buried.
• His body was displayed at Howard Universitys
  Andrew Rankin Chapel for public viewing and his
  funeral was held April 5th. Hundreds attended,
  overflowing the church.

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Drews Memberships

• Rockefeller Fellow, in Surgery, College of
  physicians and surgeons, Columbia
• Washington Medical Director (1946-1947)
• Surgical Consultant, ETO ( Army)
• Director of the first Plasma Division, Blood
  Transfusion Association, supplying plasma to the
  British (1940-1941)
• First Director, A.R.C Blook Bank, supplying blood
  to the U.S Forces (1941)

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Drews Memberships

• American-Soviet Science Commission (1944)
• Distinguished Service Medal, National Medical
  Association (1950)
• General Education Board Fellow in Surgery
• Spingarn Medal (1944)
• U.S. postage stamp issued in his honor (1981)

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The Death of Drew

• An editorial had been in the Washington post
  reading
• Dr. Charles R. Drew,whose life was snuffed out
  in its maturity by an automobile accident on
  Saturday, was among the most gifted of American
  surgeons. He chose to devote his gifts to the
  advancement of medicine rather than to the
  advancement of a personal career or to winning
  the monetary rewards that were easily within his
  reach. In particular, he devoted his gifts to the
  training of young Negro surgeons desperately
  needed for the medical care of their raceHe will
  be missed, however, not alone by his own race but
  by his whole profession and by men everywhere who
  value scientific devotion and integrity.