Staige Davis Blackford was born December 28, 1898 in Alexandria, Virginia. His mother was Eliza Ambler Blackford, and his father, Dr. Launcelot Minor Blackford, was Headmaster of the Episcopal High School in Alexandria. Staige was educated at Episcopal High School and at the University of Virginia, where he received his B.S. degree in 1923, and his M.D. in 1925. Prior to attending the University Blackford served in the University of Virginia section of the Army Ambulance Service during World War I. While a student at the University he was Captain of the 1923 football team, President of the class of 1925, and a member of several fraternities and secret societies.
Following the completion of his medical studies Blackford joined the staff of the University of Virginia Medical School, where he made several noteworthy administrative and instructional changes in the interwar period. In August, 1927 he married Miss Lydia Fishburne, and they had two children: Staige D. Blackford, Jr., and Linda Harper (Blackford) Wells.
After the Eighth Evacuation Hospital was disbanded in 1945, Blackford returned to teaching at the University Medical School, where he remained until his death July 17, 1949. Among the professional organizations to which Blackford belonged were the Albemarle County Medical Society, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal High School.
For further information, see the September 1949 issue of the University of Virginia Medical Alumni Newsletter .
From the guide to the Papers of Staige D. Blackford, 1939(1942-1946)1949, (Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)
