Biomaterial Database

Charles Drew: dispelling the myth. 1992

P P Craft

Department of Medical Humanities, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, NC 27858-4354.

The name Charles Drew is synonymous with blood transfusions, but his life encompassed many other areas of work. A native of Washington, DC, Drew attended Dunbar High School and Amherst College, and went to medical school at McGill University in Montreal. All during his schooling he was a highly regarded athlete (track and football). Drew spent 2 years in postdoctoral training in Montreal and 3 years in Washington, DC, followed by 2 years in New York City, working on a doctorate in medicine in blood banking. He was instrumental in the Blood for Britain program in 1940 and helped establish the future Red Cross blood bank in the United States. Finally, at Howard University, where he taught from 1941 to 1950, he trained a generation of black surgeons. He died, at age 45, of injuries received in a car accident in 1950 in North Carolina. Controversy surrounding his death, involving numerous erroneous claims, has served unfortunately to detract from the significance of his achievements.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D001741	Black or African American	A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1997/10/30/97-28653/revisions-to-the-standards-for-the classification-of-federal-data-on-race-and-ethnicity). In the United States it is used for classification of federal government data on race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity terms are self-identified social construct and may include terms outdated and offensive in MeSH to assist users who are interested in retrieving comprehensive search results for studies such as in longitudinal studies.	African American,African Americans,African-American,Afro-American,Afro-Americans,Black Americans,Blacks,Negroes,African-Americans,Negro,Afro American,Afro Americans,American, African,American, Black,Black American
D001771	Blood Banks	Centers for collecting, characterizing and storing blood or plasma.	Bank, Blood,Banks, Blood,Blood Bank
D001803	Blood Transfusion	The introduction of whole blood or blood component directly into the blood stream. (Dorland, 27th ed)	Blood Transfusions,Transfusion, Blood,Transfusions, Blood
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013502	General Surgery	A specialty in which manual or operative procedures are used in the treatment of disease, injuries, or deformities.	Surgery,Surgery, General
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History