Little Known Black History Fact – Black America 250: June 3, 1904-The birth date of Dr. Charles Richard Drew, the “Father of Blood Banking”

Charles Richard Drew, M.D. born June 3, 1904, was a brilliant African-American physician and gifted surgeon, world renowned medical researcher, beloved teacher, and visionary, whose discoveries in the field of transfusion medicine earned him the lofty title,“Father of Blood Banking.”  His seminal research revolutionized healthcare. He developed techniques to extend the shelf-life and quality of whole blood and plasma (blood in which the cells have been removed and clotting factors remain). His pioneering work in human blood preservation, separation, storage, distribution, and donation, literally helped save millions of lives worldwide. He was the first Medical Director of the American Red Cross blood donor centers, which he established and managed, and the inventor of the Bloodmobile, which greatly facilitated blood donation by the public. Collectively, Dr. Drew’s life is a testament to the fact that one man’s work can have an infinite impact on public health from generation to generation.Charles “Charlie” Drew was born in Washington, DC, the oldest of five children to an African-American couple, his father Richard Drew, a carpet layer, and his mother, Nora Burrell Drew, a teacher. Although Washington was mostly segregated, he grew up in Foggy Bottom, a largely middle-class and interracial neighborhood. In their home, his parents emphasized academic achievement, church membership, civic knowledge, and personal responsibility. At age twelve, he recruited a crew of six other boys for a newspaper route that delivered over a thousand newspapers daily. Drew attended Washington’s Dunbar High School, an elite, all-Black public academy. His high school yearbook described him as “ambitious, popular, athletic, and sturdy”. He was a star athlete in football and track. A bright, but unexceptional student at the time, he aimed to become an electrical engineer. He also served as captain of the school’s Cadet Corps. Drew won a partial athletic scholarship to Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he lettered all four years in football and track. Though denied selection as captain of the football team because he was Black, the track team unanimously elected him captain. He graduated from Amherst in 1926 with an AB degree.

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