Red Cross Segregates Blood Banks During WWI, Refusing Black Donations for White Soldiers

During WWI and extending into WWII, the American Red Cross maintained segregated blood banks, refusing to use blood donated by Black Americans to treat white soldiers. This policy was maintained despite the scientific consensus that blood type, not race, determined transfusion compatibility. Dr. Charles Drew, a Black scientist who developed the blood bank and plasma storage system that saved hundreds of thousands of allied lives in WWII, resigned his position in protest of the policy. The Red Cross maintained racial segregation of blood supplies until 1950.