February is designated as Black History Month: a time to celebrate the many contributions African Americans have made to this country and a time to reflect on the continued struggle for racial justice.

 Charles Richard Drew (June 3, 1904 – April 1, 1950) was an American surgeon and medical researcher. Drew was a pioneer in blood transfusion and the first African American to earn a medical doctorate from Columbia University. Drew developed improved techniques for blood storage and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. As a result, 35 blood bank centers were in operation during the war.

 His research was instrumental in providing much-needed plasma to soldiers, which allowed medics to save thousands of lives that would have been lost in earlier wars when blood therapy was unknown. By war’s end, millions of donations had been received by the Red Cross.

 As the most prominent African American in the field, Drew protested against the practice of racial segregation in the donation of blood, as it lacked scientific foundation. He is known as “the father of the blood bank” for his innovative mobile blood donation concept. 

 Dr. Drew was only 45 years old while driving to a scientific conference when he was tragically killed in an automobile accident. His pioneering medical work has endured. Many lives have been saved because of his genius at turning basic biological research into practical production methods. It is a certainty that mankind owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Charles Richard Drew.

 Public Health’s Dr. Charles R. Drew Health Center, located at 1323 West Third Street in Dayton, is named after this great pioneer in medical science.