January 1942
Medical segregationBook sources
Red Cross blood collections segregate Black donors
United States; Black blood donors and military blood supplies
After excluding Black donors, the Red Cross began accepting their blood in January 1942 but segregated it at the military’s request. Charles Drew opposed the policy as scientifically unfounded. The episode exposed racial rules imposed on a lifesaving medical program.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
Drew returned to Howard University in April 1941, before this policy change. The National Library of Medicine finds no evidence that the racial policy caused his departure; the chapter’s account of his dismissal is not adopted.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 16, pp. 415–416; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- National Library of Medicine: Charles Drew biography ↗