SCHOLARSHIP | HISTORY | EXCELLENCE | ACHIEVEMENT
Black History Event Hosted by the Dr. Edna B. Mckenzie Branch of ASALH
Registration Required
FEBRUARY 12 VIRTUAL EVENT | 11AM-1PM ET
. . . So much of our energy is spent in overcoming the constricting environment in which we live that little energy is left for creating new ideas or things. Whenever, however, one breaks out of this rather high-walled prison of the “Negro problem” by virtue of some worthwhile contribution, not only is he himself allowed more freedom, but part of the wall crumbles. And so it should be the aim of every student in science to knock down at least one or two bricks of that wall by virtue of his own accomplishment. –
Charles R. Drew to Mrs. J. F. Bates, a Fort Worth, Texas schoolteacher, January 27, 1947
Dr. Charles R. Drew
Charles Richard Drew was an American surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. To earn money for medical school, he took a job as athletic director and instructor of biology and chemistry at Morgan College (now Morgan State University), in Baltimore. Drew attended medical school at McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montréal, which had a reputation for better treatment of minorities. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, “Banked Blood,” and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African American to earn this degree from Columbia. He trained a generation of black physicians at Howard University. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.
Join the Excitement as Students from 4 Universities Test Their Knowledge of
Black History
DR. EDNA B. MCKENZIE BRANCH OF ASALH 
