People Charles R. Drew
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Charles R. Drew
Surgeon and researcher; pioneer of blood banking
Who
Charles Richard Drew (1904–1950) was the first African American to earn a doctorate in surgery, at Columbia in 1940, with research on preserving blood. He directed the Blood for Britain program (1940–41) and, in 1941, the first American Red Cross blood bank, where he introduced bloodmobiles. He resigned in 1942 in protest at the policy of segregating blood by donor race, and received the Spingarn Medal in 1944.