Drew, Dr Charles R
By
John C Abercrombie
Dr Charles Drew developed ways to process and store blood plasma. Leading to the formation of blood “banks”. He was the guiding force in the establishment of blood plasma programs for America and Great Britain. His discoveries and establishment of blood banks saved countless lives during World War II and continue today.
Charles Drew was born June 3, 1904. His father Richard was a carpet layer and his mother Nora Burrell trained as a teacher, they had 5 children with Charles being the oldest son.
Charles was a great athlete and showed early prowess in swimming. Later he excelled in football, basketball, and track. Drew attended the famed Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. graduating in 1922.
As an outstanding athlete, he attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts on an athletic scholarship, graduating in 1926.
After graduating from Amherst, he then spent 2 years working at Morgan College, now Morgan State University, in Baltimore as a professor of chemistry and biology. He was also the Athletic director and football coach. As he worked at Morgan State, he was earning money to enable him to attend medical school.
Morgan State University is a historically Black (HBCU) research university in Baltimore, Maryland.
While it was difficult for a Black to be admitted to medical school in America, Drew was accepted at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. While at McGill, he was an outstanding student and ranked 2nd in a class of 127. He became a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a scholastic honor society.
This is much different than his experience in America where he joined an off campus Greek Letter organization because those on campus would not admit Blacks.
Drew graduated from McGill University in 1933 with a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Surgery degree. Several years later, Drew did graduate work at Columbia University in New York City with a Doctor of Science in Medicine degree in 1940.
Drew did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria hospital and the Montreal General Hospital, during which time he studied problems and issues regarding blood transfusions.
Drew returned to the United States and became an instructor at Howard University’s Medical school following the death of his father in 1935. He then did a surgical residency at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., all while working at Howard.
Note: The Freedmen’s Hospital, founded in 1862 was the first hospital to aid the medical treatment of former slaves. It became the major hospital for Blacks in Washington, D.C. The hospital was founded on the grounds of Camp Barker, a refugee camp for Blacks during the American Civil War.
In 1938, Drew was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, where he continued study on blood-related matters. He developed a method of processing blood by separating the components. Plasma lasts longer than whole blood and can be given between blood types. He also discovered that plasma could be dried and reconstituted when needed. This research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, “Banked Blood”. When he received his doctorate degree in 1940, he became the first Black to earn this degree from Columbia.
In 1940, Drew was recruited to help set up and administer a blood storage and preservation program for the United Kingdom. He went to New York City as the medical director of the United States Blood for Britain project to aid British soldiers by Americans giving blood to the United Kingdom. It is reported that he collected 14,500 pints of plasma for Great Britain.
Note: World War II started in 1939 and the United States was not involved at the start, joining in later.
In 1941, Drew headed yet another blood bank effort. This time for the American Red Cross as America had entered World War II. While successful, Drew became very troubled at the military request to set up segregated blood banks. The reason for the frustration is that there was no medical reason for segregating blood. Drew outraged by the racist policy resigned his post. The policy was changed to a single blood bank in 1950.
Note: People who are not familiar with the extent and perseverance of racist policies and laws are always wondering why people affected by them are pointing out the discrepancy. It is because there are so many laws and practices that affect every aspect of the lives of those affected. People not affected don’t even notice.
In 1941, after leading the establishment of 2 of the largest and most successful blood banks to date, Drew returned to Howard as head of the Surgery department and chief surgeon at Freedman’s Hospital. He was also honored as the first Black examiner for the American Board of Surgery.
In 1944, Drew was given the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for his work on blood collection and distribution.
Drew was tragically killed in an automobile accident, April 1, 1950. After attending a medical conference at the famed Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, Drew crashed near Burlington, North Carolina. There were 3 passengers, one, John Ford, was seriously injured but he made a complete recovery.
This accident forms one of the most widely and ironic stories that has persisted over the years. That story states that Drew died of blood loss because he was refused a blood transmission because of his race. This story has persisted in large part because so many Blacks have been refused service by doctors and hospitals, even in the event of serious injury.
There are many stories of people being refused transportation to emergency treatment because the ambulance dispatched was a “White” ambulance. Many doctors refuse treatment of Blacks and if they do have waiting rooms that are far below the standards of White patients. These practices were prevalent, and most people of some age can give firsthand knowledge of such treatment or lack thereof.
The accident happened on North Carolina 49, near Haw River. Drew apparently fell asleep and the car rolled over. Drew was thrown out of the car and it rolled over him. (There were no seat belts in use during this time.
Seat belt use did not become mandatory until January 1, 1968. Something we should always wear). Drew’s leg was nearly severed, he suffered massive chest injuries, a broken neck, brain damage and complete blockage of blood flow to the heart.
Drew was taken to Alamance General Hospital, a “White” hospital. He received treatment; however, the injuries were too severe for him to survive. Ford was treated at Alamance General for several days before being transported to Washington, a Black hospital.
Drew’s family wrote letters to the attending physicians thanking them for their efforts.
The story continues to sound completely plausible to Blacks and others who have been on the receiving end of discriminatory practices that seem to linger over the years.
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Dr. Charles R Drew | Fun Facts | Black History | Biography for Students | Inventors
Learning about Black History is amazing and today we have fun facts from an African American Inventor named Dr. Charles R. Drew. Learn about his life and discoveries in blood banking as we have you covered with educational videos for students.
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One Blood: The Death and Resurrection of Charles R. Drew
One Blood traces both the life of the famous black surgeon and blood plasma pioneer Dr. Charles Drew and the well-known legend about his death. On April 1, 1950, Drew died after an auto accident in rural North Carolina. Within hours, rumors spread: the man who helped create the first American Red Cross blood bank had bled to death because a whites-only hospital refused to treat him. Drew was in fact treated in the emergency room of the small, segregated Alamance General Hospital. Two white surgeons worked hard to save him, but he died after about an hour. In her compelling chronicle of Drew’s life and death, Since Love shows that in a generic sense, the Drew legend is true: throughout the segregated era, African Americans were turned away at hospital doors, either because the hospitals were whites-only or because the ‘black beds’ were full. Love describes the fate of a young black World War II veteran who died after being turned away from Duke Hospital following an auto accident that occurred in the same year and the same county as Drew’s. African Americans are shown to have figuratively ‘bled to death’ at white hands from the time they were first brought to this country as slaves. By preserving their own stories, Love says, they have proven the enduring value of oral history. General Interest/Race Relations
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