Medicine - Men
Click on photos to enlarge.
Dr. Charles R. Drew
June 3, 1904 to April 1, 1950
Dr. Charles Drew developed a system for storing and preserving blood and established blood banks throughout the 1930’s and 40’s. When the British called upon the US for help during WWII, Dr. Drew was chosen as supervisor of Britain’s blood transfusion program. His discovery saved the lives of many British soldiers.
In 1941, the American Red Cross recruited Dr. Drew to establish a blood bank in the US. That same year, the United States War Department determined that the blood of Blacks and whites should not be mixed. Dr. Drew objected to the segregation of blood and was forced to resign. It was not until 1949 that the US military ended the separation of blood according to race.
PHOTOS
L: Dr. Charles R. Drew, public domain. R: Gravestone of Dr. Charles R. Drew, his wife M. Lenore Drew and their son Charles R. Drew Jr.
SOURCES
Books
Appiah, Kwame, Anthony and Gates, Henry Louis, ed. "Africana The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience." 1st ed. New York: Civitas, 1999. Print.
Stewart, Jeffrey C. "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About African American History." New York: Broadway. Reprinted 2001. Print.
Site Visit
Dr. Charles Drew gravesite. Lincoln Memorial Cemetery. Suitland, MD.
INTERRED
Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, 4001 Suitland Road, Suitland, Maryland 20746. Phone: 301-568-8410.