Charles Richard Drew (3 June 1904 – 1 April 1950) was a brilliant African-American physician, surgeon and medical researcher famous for his pioneering work in blood preservation. His expert knowledge was the model in developing large-scale blood banks in World War II, allowing medics to save thousands of Allied forces' lives.
In 1938, Drew was awarded a two-year Rockefeller fellowship in surgery and he began postgraduate work, earning his Doctor of Science in Surgery at Columbia University. His doctoral thesis, "Banked Blood" was based on an exhaustive study of blood preservation techniques.
As the military emergency of World War II became more violent and the need for blood plasma intensified, Drew, the leading authority in the field, was selected as the full-time medical director of the Blood for Britain project. He supervised the successful collection of 14,500 pints of vital plasma for the British. In February 1941, Drew was appointed director of the first American Red Cross Blood Bank, in charge of blood for use by the U.S. Army and Navy.
Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation in the donation of blood, as it lacked scientific foundation. In 1942, he resigned his official posts after the armed forces ruled that the blood of African-Americans would be accepted but would have to be stored separately from that of whites.
In 1943, Drew's became the first black surgeon selected 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.
Thank you Dr. Drew for your incredible legacy and being a champion for racial equality, because in the blood banking business, there is only one color: red.