The collection consists of one organ donor card, one article reprint, and one piece of correspondence. Signed by the donor, Loren Pankratz, the donor card is thought to be one of the earliest donor cards, if not the earliest, in existence.
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The idea of an organ transplant was still highly controversial in the early 1970s. Thus, the divergent opinions were a topic of research for Vincent Glaudin, Ph.D., Chief of Psychology at the Portland VA Hospital (now Portland VA Medical Center). He and his co-author, Courtney Goodmonson, investigated the relationship between a stated attitude and commitment behavior. In other words, were people who said they supported organ transplantation willing to sign a document providing a posthumous donation? To test this question, they printed an Anatomical Gift form, or organ donor card, that could be carried in a wallet or purse. The study led to the article "The Relationship of Commitment-Free Behavior and Commitment Behavior: A Study of Attitude Toward Organ Transplantation" (1971), which is included in this collection.
The donor, Loren Pankratz, was working for Glaudin at the time and happened to be in the office when a box of these donor cards arrived, fresh off the press. He stated, "As I contemplated one in my hand, I began to realize that this was a wonderful new idea. I immediately signed one and had it witnessed by two friends, Dr. and Dr. Arnold, a married couple of ophthalmology residents. I carried it in my wallet for years until the state of Oregon provided the option of having a donor option on your driver's license. As far as I have been able to determine, these were the first donor cards ever printed. I know I was the first to sign one, which makes it highly likely that this is the first and oldest one in existence."
Loren Pankratz papers, Collection Number 2010-018, Oregon Health & Science University, Historical Collections & Archives