[Eoscstudents] Black History Awareness

[Levenia Carey]

Good Afternoon:

Today our featured person is Charles Drew.  Charles Drew as a Medical 
Researcher born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. and died on April 1, 
1950.  As a youth, he excelled in the classroom and on the athletic 
fields.  Later, as a student at Amherst College, he again distinguished 
himself in both areas.  At Amherst, he was captain of the track and 
field team.  He played football, too, and was an outstanding halfback.  
At his graduation, he was awarded the Mossman Trophy for having brought 
the most honor to the college during his four years there.

In 1933, Drew received his medical degree from McGill University in 
Canada.  Once more, his mental and physical gifts had propelled him to 
the top.  He had received an academic prize, and had established track 
records that were not bettered for a number of years.

Drew began his career in medical research at Columbia University.  His 
research led to the discovery of a way to store blood plasma for later 
use.  He established national blood plasma programs for the British and 
for the United States. 

Leaving is brilliant career in research behind, Dr. Drew became chief 
surgeon and chief of staff of Freedmen's Hospital in his native 
Washington, D.C.  He held both positions at the time of his death.  He 
won the Spingarn Medal for his contributions to humanity.

On a dark night in 1950, an exhausted driver fell asleep at the wheel of 
his car and crashed, badly injuring himself.  The accident happened in 
North Carolina, where racial segregation was practiced.  Because the 
local hospital was designated "for whites only," the man could not be 
admitted.  Within a short time, he bled to death. The driver was Dr. 
Charles Drew, the physician and medical scientist who pioneered the 
research on the preservation of blood.  Ironically, his discoveries 
saved the lives of hundreds of thousands, both black and white, during 
World War II.  As a result of the programs that Dr. Drew established for 
the British and the United States, countless lives were saved, but in 
the end, not his own.

Keep reading....until tomorrow.

Levenia, Marilynn, Brenton and NAACP/Psycho Club
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