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Last week an article in my local newspaper caught my eye. A local resident and Hollywood filmmaker, Kathleen Bobak will be producing "Banked Blood: The Charles Drew Story" in early 2012 right here in Jacksonville.
Dr. Drew's research and development of blood plasma allowed blood to be stored for transfusions and brought about the blood banks we know today.
Charles Richard Drew (3 June 1904 – 1 April 1950): Charles Drew who was an African-American, was born in Washington DC and attended Amherst College where he was a standout athlete in track and football. He earned his MD degree in 1933 from McGill University School of Medicine in Montreal.
In 1938 Drew earned his Doctor of Science in Surgery at Columbia University where his doctoral thesis, "Banked Blood" was based upon his exhaustive study of blood preservation techniques. While engaged in research at Columbia's Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Drew's gift to mankind was shaped as the emergency of WWII produced a demanding vital need for ways to preserve blood.
Blood for Britain
As World War II began, Drew received a daunting request via telegram from his former professor, Dr. John Beattie, in Britain: "Secure 5,000 ampules of dried plasma for transfusion." That was more than the total global supply. Drew met the challenge, organizing an American "Blood for Britain" campaign for the beleaguered nation by September 1940. Drew's success took him to the helm of the American Red Cross blood bank. He recruited 100,000 blood donors for the U.S. military. Yet he found himself up against a narrow-minded policy of segregating the blood supply based on a donor's race. When he protested and the government refused to change the policy, Drew chose to resign. ~ Who Made America?
In 1943 Dr. Drew became the first black surgeon to serve as an examiner on the American Board of Surgery.
The NAACP awarded him the Spingarn Medal in 1944 in recognition of his work on the British and American projects. Virginia State College presented him an honorary doctor of science degree in 1945, as did his alma mater Amherst in 1947.
Drew returned to Freedman's Hospital and Howard University where he served as a professor of medicine and surgeon from 1942 to 1950. On April 1, 1950, Drew was motoring with three colleagues to the annual meeting of the John A. Andrews Association in Tuskegee, Alabama, when he was killed in a one-car accident. The automobile struck the soft shoulder of the road and overturned. Drew was severely injured and rushed to nearby Alamance County General Hospital in Burlington, North Carolina. In the words of his widow, "everything was done in his fight for life" by the medical staff. However, it was too late to save him. ~ Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
In 1981 the United States Postal Service issued a 35¢ postage stamp in it's Great American Series to honor Dr. Drew.