Day 22: do you remember in High school they did a blood drive and all the students got to be excused from class to donate. Well yeah the idea of blood drives goes to Charles R.Drew and his research in the field of blood transfusions. He was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. He went to medical school at McGill University where he received a scholastic honor for medical students called Alpha Omega Alpha and graduated the second rank of his class which had 127 students in 1933. He also became the first African American to earn a doctor of science in medicine degree in 1940. However the American Medical Association only allowed white male doctors to join so Charles Drew was never accepted. In the late 1940, Charles Drew helped the UK by transporting blood plasma in what is now called bloodmobiles. The next year he was appointed the director of the first American Red Cross blood blank however he quit shortly after the blood bank ruled that the blood from African Americans would be kept separated from the blood of white people. Today we honor Charles Drew for his research and work in Blood transfusions. His work in blood transfusions have helped countless people.