Penicillin: How G. Raymond Rettew Changed the World

Learn all about the penicillin program. G. Raymond Rettew was a West Chester native who was the one to figure out how to mass produce penicillin during World War II. Up to that point, the benefits of penicillin were known, but only a handful of doses at a time could be produced. He used a Sharples Cream Separator, also produced in West Chester to separate heavy cream from milk, to separate penicillin from its growth medium. By 1944, most of the world's supply of penicillin was coming out of West Chester, and Rettew is credited with saving 100,000 soldiers' lives. The CC History Center's curator, Ellen Endslow, will do a 45 minute presentation and then lead participants on a tour of some of the items we have from Rettew's laboratory, which were donated to us.