Blacks@Dartmouth 1775 to 1960

Dr. Charles Wendell Freeman, 80, a dermatologist, a retired professor at Howard University and a former city health official, died of a heart ailment Saturday at his home in Silver Spring. Dr. Freeman practiced medicine in Washington for 43 years before retiring in 1970. He joined the staff of the old Freedmen's Hospital as a specialist in dermatology-syphilology in 1927. In 1942, he became assistant professor of dermatology at the Howard medical school, where he taught until 1970. From 1948 to 1953, he was director of the D.C. Health Department's physicians training program on venereal disease control. He was head of the department's general disease control division from 1964 to 1970.

Dr. Freeman was a past president of the D.C. chapter of the American Medico-Chirurgical Society and of the Washington Dermatological Association. He was a member of the National Medical Association, the Society of Investigative Dermatology and the International Society of Dermatologists. He had been a consultant on dermatology at D.C. General and Howard University hospitals.

Dr. Freeman was a native of Washington and lived in the city until moving to Silver Spring about two years ago. He was a graduate of Dunbar High School and a 1923 graduate of Dartmouth College. He received his medical degree at Howard and interned at the old Freedmen's Hospital. He also pursued postgraduate studies in Germany and Austria.

He maintained a summer home in Highland Beach, Md., where he had been a town commissioner and mayor. He was a member of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Washington. His marriage to Mabel Jones Freeman ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 37 years, Carrie Parkus Freeman of Silver Springs; two sons by his first marriage John Wendell Freeman of Columbia, Md., and Donald Jones Freeman of Severn, Md.; sister, Esther Rolerfort of New York City; and three children. The family suggests that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to the building fund of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Washington.