Talk:Charles R. Drew/Archive 1

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In the "Alma mater" section Amherst College was not listed, even though it is obviously his alma mater (it even says later in the article "Charles Drew House, residence at Amherst College, his alma mater"). This needs to be added in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dz4n (talk • contribs) 04:55, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

The paragraph on current views on race in anthropology seems out of place. Actually the whole section on Dr Drew's death could use some rewriting. Eric 02:19, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

The story of Charles Drew was presented in an episode of M*A*S*H (11/10/73, episode K-409). Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) was treating a soldier (Mills Watson) who refused to accept any "wrong colored" blood. Because of his blatant racism, Hawkeye decided to teach him a lesson. While the soldier was sleeping, Hawkeye and "Trapper" John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) painted the soldier's face with a fluid containing iodine. When the soldier awoke and saw his reflection in a mirror, he panicked, knowing he had been given "the wrong color" blood. Hawkeye related the story of Dr. Charles Drew, and how after an automobile accident in North Carolina, he was not admitted to an all-white hospital. Prevented from receiving potentially life saving plasma, he died of his injuries. Although this has been thoroughly debunked, the story moved the soldier, so that at the end of the episode, he apologized for his statements and saluted a young African American nurse (Odessa Cleveland).

Drew did not discover blood plasma, nor was he refused blood leading to his death.

It is sickening that this racist agitprop is repeated here when simple research would dispel such legends. It belittles Drew's actual accomplishments to subject him to this mythologization.

Dr. Drew's main accomplishment was that he adapted an already-existing laboratory production method for the industrial production of plasma.

• You may want to read the article, it doesn't say that he discovered plasma, it does specifically say that report, that he was refused admission to an all-white hospital were false--
  nixie
  01:56, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Nixie, I was referring to the comment preceeding mine wherein those very falsehoods are repeated. The article is fair, although the claim that Drew was somehow responsible for the institution of blood blanks is totally false. Thanks. why was he the only to die out of four people in the car?and who got credit for discovery of any nature? the facts are what they are,so be blind justice is also!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.96.156.210 (talk) 19:24, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

How is that you all are using a single source to "correct" Dr. Drew's contributions to medical science? There are innumerable sources that do support the claims that the biographer of "Charles Richard Drew: The Man and the Myth" tries to refute. FlyingLeons (talk) 18:59, 22 February 2010 (UTC)FlyingLeons

It might also be worth mentioning that one of his real daughters, Charlene Drew Jarvis, was a longtime D.C. councilmember.Carlaclaws 05:23, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

This article seems to be getting a lot of vandalism, which is sad. --Elaragirl^Talk|Count 03:52, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Charlene Drew Jarvis also was (and may still be) a member of the board of directors for the DC Red Cross and an adamant supporter of that organization.CharmsDad (talk) 19:44, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Somebody removed my addition about statistically significant differences in blood type frequencies between ethnic groups, so I'm adding it back in, because it's true. Any good book on population genetics will confirm this. However, no racial superiority or inferority can or should be inferred by the blood type frequency.

Furthermore, even though one can see blood frequency differences across population subgroups, this says nothing about an individual's blood type. There's no evolutionary advantage of one blood type over another.

There are a lot of interesting studies that show blood type frequencies differences between ethnic/national groups. This is can be explained by the Hardy-Weinberg equalibrium. That is, an allele frequency stays approximately the same from generation to generation if there's no evolutionary advantage of one allele over another. Genetic drift explains the differences.

One interesting example is the blood type frequencies in the Basque region bordering between France and Spain are different than the frequencies in France and Spain. Interestingly enough, the Basque language is linguistically unrelated to French and Spanish, from which one can infer, that the Basque sub-population is distinct from the French and Spanish, whose languages belong to the Romance language group.

If you look at the geographic distribution of blood frequencies in the United States, you can see that because of the extreme mobility of Americans, the blood frequencies are fairly uniform.

To conclude, blood frequency differences between ethnic groups is a fact, but this fact cannot and should not give support to any racial discrimination.

Clemwang 09:35, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

One of the articles is titled, in part, Urban Legend, but there's no discussion of the legend. Why? Also, check out the straight dope web site for an insightful look at Drew and the legend. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kevin324la (talk • contribs) 02:47, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I removed this offensive garbage:

Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington D.C. to fuck his parent and suck his dad dick Nora and Richard Drew.

It's sad that some lowlife loser has nothing better to do than vandalize the biographies of those who've made worthwhile contributions to society. 66.189.180.66 (talk) 17:54, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I removed the following statement:

He was supposedly a homosexual and needed blood.

It is out of place and irrelevant in the current context and has no footnote or other verifiable reference. It smacks of slander/vandalism to me. Thunderfun (talk) 17:08, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Just reverted two weeks worth of edits because they were all vandalism or the reversion of vandalism. Not sure why Dr. Drew is such a target, but I'd like to get semi-protection again.Czrisher (talk) 23:07, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I came to this article to verify the statement from the M.A.S.H episode. Although I'm not familiar with the subject it's obvious that Dr. Drew's ethnicity and the circumstances surrounding his death are the matter of some controversial debate. Until these are definitively resolved in a mature way I have added the bias tag.

It has been well documented that Dr. Drew received the very best of care. The M.A.S.H. episode only showed the personal bias of prejudice of that show's writers. I have had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Drew's daughter (who lives in DC). ALL accounts from that evening clearly show he was treated with respect and the medical staff did everything possible to help him. This is DEFINITELY resolved.CharmsDad (talk) 19:38, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

As an aside - I am not American, so it is surprising to me that a scientist, doctor and historical personage would be maligned in the ways that I've read on this discussion page, by his countrymen no less. Calydon (talk) 04:25, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

The "Bias" tag suggests that the article, as written is biased, 'i.e.', that it is POV. There is no dispute that Dr. Drew faced discrimination and racial bias in his life, but the fact that some believe that such discrimination was an integral and immediate cause of his death is not a reason to apply the tag. There is insufficient basis for the argument that this question remains in dispute but, those who wish to make that case have other tags at their disposal that would be more appropriate.Czrisher (talk) 16:25, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

Unlike many, my father was an 'emt' type that picked up Dr. Drew - and while he wasn't totally 'denied' help at the first hospital (that's sometimes reported), he wasn't given the very best care to the full capabilities of the hospital. That said, by most recounts (including my father) it wouldn't have mattered in the long run. Both 'sides' have somewhat played up the situation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vengeance712 (talk • contribs) 03:20, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

hello, i just reorganized the page a bit and inserted some new info from a source i recently finished reading. --Dcowboys3109 (talk) 06:44, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

{{editsemiprotected}} Hello - I found several sources that say Dr. Drew resigned from his position at the American Red Cross. This article states his beliefes got him fired. Here's one source: bridgew.edu/HOBA/Images/Inductees/Drew.jpg I am unable to edit this as I am new to Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bridiebereza (talk • contribs) 20:23:06, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Could you please list the rest of the sources here? Thanks. Samwb123^{Please read} 00:11, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

According To wikipedia 2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.234.12.28 (talk) 00:42, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

The Red Cross Blood Center in Washington DC is named in his honor. The Red Cross has always expressed the greatest respect for Dr. Drew and his contributions to medicine. Dr. Drew's daughter was (and may still be) a member of the board of directors for the DC Red Cross.CharmsDad (talk) 19:40, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

I restored the separate entry for the Drew Charter School in Atlanta because, when someone decided to "combine states", the distinction of the East Lake school being the first in the Atlanta system was lost (and should not have been, dagnabbit!)

Uncle Bubba (talk) 04:10, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected}}

The middle initial for Charles Drew's Father is incorrectly written as "Y." His correct middle initial is "T." The full name of his father is Richard Thomas Drew. Charles Richard Drew is my grandfather's brother, and I am the great-granddaughter of Richard Thomas Drew, as well as the family historian. Please change this incorrect entry.

173.79.159.14 (talk) 11:07, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Not done: You need to have a reliable source to back it up. Do another request provide one and we can make the change. Hardy Heck (talk) 19:04, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Good catch. Made the correction and added two citations. Czrisher (talk) 23:48, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Since I may be starting an edit war, I take the time to explain my reasoning more fully though I hope not prolixly. Recently, the lede was changed to refer to Dr. Drew as "African-American". I have reverted this, now twice. The explanation given for why my first reversion was undone appeared to be that I was questioning Dr. Drew's Blackness. I was not. The article itself, including in the introduction, makes numerous references to his ethnicity as it should. That was an important part of who he was. But changing the lede to remove the word "American" suggests that his Blackness makes him somewhat less of an American physician than, e.g., Ernest Duchesne was a French physician or John Locke was an English philosopher. Dr. Drew was one of the great American physicians of the early 20th Century and his lede should note this. Czrisher (talk) 02:53, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

And as I noted in reverting it, his ethnicity was and is important enough to have him written about at length in 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia and mentioned in speeches on the floor of Congress such as one on February 28, 2012, by Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives about black inventors. Numerous other articles on African-American scientists use the term African American instead of American in the lede section. I made no assumptions about your motives as to your "questioning his blackness", however the assertion that stating that he was an African-American inventor somehow makes him "somewhat less American" is a wholly unsupported and smack of a serious biased assumptions. Lestatdelc (talk) 04:16, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

http://www.redcross.org/museum/exhibits/drdrew.asp — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.73.17.241 (talk) 07:30, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Charles R. Drew/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following

Last edited at 20:56, 2 November 2006 (UTC). Substituted at 14:29, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

Charles biography, Charles Richard Drew: The Man and the Myth, says:

The fact is, Drew did not develop blood plasma in any of its forms, nor did he ,DO perfect blood transfusion with blood plasma, as is sometimes claimed in newspapers and popular magazines, in children's books, on television, and even in some history books. It is especially worth noting that no recognized and respected medical or scientific authority or publication has ever made such claims for Drew. Certainly, Drew did not make any such claims for himself, nor have any of his former colleagues or any of his students. To say all this, however, in no way detracts from Drew's actual accomplishments.

This brief excerpt should be permissible under "fair use" doctrines. Zuzim 19:46, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Charles Drew (1904-1950) was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. Charles Drew excelled in academics and sports during his graduate studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Charles Drew was also a honor student at McGill University Medical School in Montreal, where he specialized in physiological anatomy. Charles Drew researched blood plasma and transfusions in New York City. It was during his work at Columbia University where he made his discoveries relating to the preservation of blood. By separating the liquid red blood cells from the near solid plasma and freezing the two separately, he found that blood could be preserved and reconstituted at a later date.

Charles Drew's system for the storing of blood plasma (blood bank) revolutionized the medical profession. Dr. Drew also established the American Red Cross blood bank, of which he was the first director, and he organized the world's first blood bank drive, nicknamed "Blood for Britain". His official title for the blood drive was Medical Director of the first Plasma Division for Blood Transfusion, supplying blood plasma to the British during World War II. The British military used his process extensively during World War II, establishing mobile blood banks to aid in the treatment of wounded soldiers at the front lines. In 1941, the American Red Cross decided to set up blood donor stations to collect plasma for the U.S. armed forces.

After the war, Charles Drew took up the Chair of Surgery at Howard University, Washington, D.C. He received the Spingarn Medal in 1944 for his contributions to medical science. Charles Drew died at the early age of 46 from injuries suffered in a car accident in North Carolina.

No, enough has NOT been said. About.com's mythologizing about black inventors is no refutation of scholarly literature. Among other laughers, About repeats uncritically Philip Emeagwali's self-aggrandizing -- and false -- claims. About's inventors editor does not respond to requests that she provide the source of her "research" on black inventors.

The fact remains that Dr. Drew was in no way the discoverer or inventor of plasma production.BulldogPete

I can already smell crap with that About.com cite, anyway.

His official title for the blood drive was Medical Director of the first Plasma Division for Blood Transfusion

. TOTALLY untrue. His official tital was Project Director, Division of Plaasma Tranfusion, Plasma for Britain directive. The medical director was his old teacher, John Scudder. --In ur base, killing ur dorfs 21:17, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Maybe someone else could/should have done this a bit earlier, but I've put in a good handful of citations for verifiability. The opening para is now clearer about Drew's medical claims to fame. Further down the article, I've also included links to Robertson and Fantus to back up handling of the "myths" issue in a positive way. And I've un-redlined John Beattie because, from Googling a bit, I can't see he meets the Wiki standard of notability.--Mereda 12:21, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

clyde janvier

No disrespect! But how is Charles Drew Black when he looks white?

In the US, both social standards and in many ways the law have nothing to do with appearance. The rule has historically been that "one drop" of Black heritage made a person black. While this may seem absurd (or racist) outside the US (and to many people in the US), it's the actual state of things here. See this website or Google for "just one drop" and negro here. Dr. Drew's heritage as "black" is firmly established. Studerby 04:02, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, we in the US were very stupid back then. I added in a copy of his picture taken by the US Government when he was involved with Plasma for Britain. --In ur base, killing ur dorfs 21:13, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

The emergency room doctors didn't NOTICE he was black? C'mon, it's one thing to say that they didn't discriminate against him, but what this article says was that they were unable to discern his race - in the south in the 1950s when all his companions were black. Was he really white looking? Were they blind? This strains credibility and is certainly not neutral. --83.84.85.197 22:45, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I am a relation of his and I look disturbingly like him. I am as black as he is. I choose to identify myself as white (although I have a VERY black sounding name). People are always stunned to meet me in person if they have only met via phone/email. I once walked into an investment bank for an interview. The interviewer walked over to the more stereotypical looking African american sitting next to me and introduced himself, presuming he was me (due to name). I was like "That's me." So, to answer the question... yes... My sisters once went to the hospital and why, i don't know, but they record ethnicity etc. When we saw the papers later (they never asked, they just filled in), one of my sisters they listed as hispanic and the other as mixed. So, appearances can be deceiving (the mixed one has pure white skin but super kinky blonde fro but with caucasian, not african facial features). The point of this? Its definitely plausible they couldn't guess his race. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.200.5.41 (talk • contribs) 12:17, 18 October 2007

Interesting. See also Passing (racial identity). Studerby 20:34, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

LOL, how is this fella a Negro again?

I agree with you people, this is nuts. The person in the photo is as white as wonderbread. I've seen albino Irish people who looked darker, and had wider noses. So what's the deal? Option 1: His great-great-great-great-grandmother was black, and all other ancestors white, and therefore he was the greatest Negro doctor to ever live? Option 2: He actually looked like Michael Jordan but used a white model in publicity photographs? 3: He was white and identified as such but the NAACP has pulled a great hoax to fool us into thinking black people can be doctors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.238.145.242 (talk) 18:02, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

With a twinge of sadness, I point out that this debate centers around the analysis of a black-and-white painting. It's true that Dr. Drew was lighter-skinned than many, but it wasn't by chance that he taught at Howard or graduated from the segregated Dunbar high school and went to Canada for medical school. As Rudolph Fisher put it:

Consider the mere item of complexion, you whose choice may run only from cool white to warm rose-and-olive. Harlem offers its cool white too, with blue eyes and flaxen hair, believe it or not; proceeds on through the conventional shades to the warmth of rose-and-olive; and here, where the rest of Manhattan ends, Harlem has just begun: on through the creams, the honeys and high-browns, the browns, the sealskins and chestnuts a dozen gradations in every class, not one without its peculiar richness.... Here is every variation of skin-color, every variety of feature-form, every possible combination of these variations and varieties. And of course every imaginable result, from the most outrageous ugliness to the most extraordinary beauty. Harlem is superlatively rich in diversity.

Czrisher (talk) 02:23, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

It must be because of that stupid

one drop rule that people used to believe all over America. We are the only country where mullatto is a dirty word. However, things seem to be changing. When this younger generation comes up and our generation fades, this type of "all or nothing" thinking might die with us. Chrisrus (talk

) 16:12, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Pruthwesha (talk) 15:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

se percebe sim algo de não-branco nele mas ele é claramente caucasoide na maioria do sangue dele devia ser um oitavo negro e quase 90% branco — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.64.52.33 (talk) 13:40, 11 April 2016 (UTC)

The part about attending the University of Arkansas and playing football doesn't make sense. Sports in the South at that time (and certainly at Arkansas) were segregated and it wasn't until the 1970's that black players competed at Arkansas in football.

I checked the Arkansas media guide and he doesn't show up as a letterman. Perhaps he played for the only HBC in Arkansas at the time that would have had 'Arkansas" in its name --- "Arkansas AM&N" (now Arkansas-Pine Bluff). But it's unlikely he would suddenly go deeper into the South to a place he appeared to have no connection.

I couldn't find an links to Arkansas on an Internet search and checked both Ark. and UAPB sites without finding anything.

Anybody have any corroboration or insight?

BostonRed 22:20, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I deleted the UArkansas information. There are enough biographies of Drew that reference only Amherst and nothing about Arkansas at all and they all indicate he played his football at Amherst and graduated from there before going to McGill.

BostonRed 14:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

charles richard drew made an impact on society, and is sad that people don't try to make a difference.68.194.159.65 (talk) 19:59, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

As an alumna of Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School, I'd like to note that Charles Drew is an alumni.

<ref>http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2012/08/30/akridge-and-argos-picked-to-redevelop.html?page=all<ref> Sam Sailor ^Talk! 11:28, 18 April 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.172.4.59 (talk) 03:15, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Charles R. Drew's color is a bit confusing. In some of the old photos, he looks white and in other photos he looks black. "He is an AMERICAN physician" and then "as the most prominent AFRICAN AMERICAN." I don't get it. No disrespect, but what the heck is going on? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.154.237.153 (talk) 19:20, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

Charles R. Drew is incredibly an confusing person. First the website that I read said that Drew was an American physician but then it said that he was an African American — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.154.237.153 (talk) 19:28, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

This edit request to Charles R. Drew has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Please add to the External Links:

• The Charles R. Drew Papers – Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.250.231.17 (talk) 14:29, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

Not done: Already in external links as http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Collection/CID/BG and I can't see a difference. Sam Sailor ^Talk! 11:33, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

This edit request to Charles R. Drew has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Under Legacy > Medical and higher education Please add the University of Rochester's Charles Drew Pre-Health Society Below is a link to the source: https://ccc.rochester.edu/organization/charlesdrewprehealthsociety Verbatim addition: Charles Drew Pre-Health Society, University of Rochester Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cbeechert (talk • contribs) 01:57, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Done Sam Sailor ^Talk! 11:36, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 25 January 2021 and 20 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Tole7833.

Above undated message substituted from

This edit request to Charles R. Drew has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Please make the following addition to the section Charles R. Drew>Legacy>Medical and higher education: Charles Drew Pre-Health Society, University of Rochester The C Drew Pre-Health Society at the prestigious University of Rochester, established in 1970, is one of the most populous clubs on campus. The following link should suffice as a source: https://ccc.rochester.edu/organization/charlesdrewprehealthsociety Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cbeechert (talk • contribs) 02:13, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Not done: POV Sam Sailor ^Talk! 11:37, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

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