About Charles R. Drew
Charles Richard Drew was an American surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. This allowed medics to save thousands of Allied forces' lives during the war. As the most prominent African American in the field, Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation in the donation of blood, as it lacked scientific foundation, and resigned his position with the American Red Cross, which maintained the policy until 1950. Drew attended Washington's Dunbar High School which was well known for its equality and opportunities for all, despite the racial climate at the time. Drew won an athletics scholarship to Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he played on the football as well as the track and field team, and later graduated in 1926. Drew's first appointment as a faculty instructor was for pathology at Howard University from 1935 to 1936. This thesis earned him his Doctor of Science in Medicine degree in 1940, becoming the first African American to do so.
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