Mercedes Deiz collection, circa 1875-2014

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Deiz, Mercedes F. L. (Mercedes Frances Lopez), 1917-2005
Title
Mercedes Deiz collection
Dates
circa 1875-2014 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 cubic feet, (7 document cases, 1 flat box, 1 oversize folder in shared box)
Collection Number
Coll 543
Summary
Papers and photographs relating to the life and career of Mercedes Deiz (1917-2005), who became the first woman of color to be a judge in Oregon when she was appointed to a seat on the district court, and was also the first Black circuit court judge in the state. The collection also includes correspondence, photographs, and other materials relating to members of Deiz's family.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Mercedes Frances Deiz, née Lopez, was born in New York in 1917. Her mother was Czechoslovakian, and her father was Afro-Cuban. She graduated from high school at 16, and worked cleaning dressing rooms at a specialty store before finding a job as an usher and telephone operator at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. She continued to work at the theater after she began attending Hunter College in 1936, and it was during this time that she met Billy Owens through the theater. They married in 1937, and Deiz continued to attend Hunter College through 1939, but, because she was often supporting both herself and her husband, she left before finishing her degree. She found a job in office work for the Hotel and Club Employees Union, and in 1943, the couple had a son.

In 1948, Deiz traveled with her son to Portland, Oregon, where one of her brothers lived, in order to obtain a divorce, and decided not to return to New York. During her early life in Portland, she became active with the NAACP and the Urban League after being refused service at a drive-in restaurant. She found a temporary job at the Internal Revenue Service, where she met Carl Deiz, who also lived in Portland; they married in 1949 and later had two children.

Just after they married, Mercedes Deiz began a job in the law library at the Bonneville Power Administration, where she stayed until 1953, and then began work as a legal secretary for Graham Walker in 1954. Walker encouraged her to become a lawyer, and paid the tuition for her first semester at the Northwestern College of Law. She earned her law degree in 1959, and in 1960, she became the first Black woman admitted to the Oregon Bar. She practiced law in Portland until 1967, when she became a hearing officer for the Oregon Workman's Compensation Board, the first woman to hold that position. In 1969, Governor Tom McCall appointed Deiz to the U.S. District Court of Oregon, making her the first woman of color to be a judge in Oregon. In 1972, Deiz was elected to a new Multnomah County Circuit Court position that had jurisdiction over juvenile and family cases, defeating seven male opponents and becoming the first Black circuit court judge in the state. She served on the bench until 1992, the year she turned 75 and was required by law to retire.

Deiz was active in many civic and legal organizations during her career, including as a founding board member of Oregon Women Lawyers, and received myriad awards and honors for her work. She died in 2005.

Sources: "Mercedes Deiz," by Diane Ryerson, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/deiz-mercedes; "A Life of Firsts," by Cliff Collins, Oregon State Bar Bulletin, December 2005, accessed June 14, 2024, https://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/05dec/heritage.html; information provided by Deiz in an oral history interview, SR 1256, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/sr-1256-oral-history-interview-with-mercedes-deiz

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of Mercedes Deiz's papers and photographs, as well materials of and relating to members of her family. In addition to her resumés and the transcript of a 1981 oral history interview conducted by the Oregon Historical Society, materials include papers from Deiz's time working for the Bonneville Power Administration, correspondence, court documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, and awards and honors she received throughout her career. Additional materials include Deiz family photographs, the transcript of an oral history with Mercedes Deiz's husband Carl Deiz, Carl Deiz's correspondence, and photographs of Mercedes Deiz's brother-in-law Robert W. Deiz, who was among the U.S. Army Air Forces servicemen known as the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, and was the model for a 1944 poster for war bonds.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Mercedes Deiz collection, Coll 543, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Materials are arranged in the following series:

  • Series 1: Papers relating to Mercedes Deiz's life and career
  • Series 2: Mercedes Deiz scrapbook materials
  • Series 3: Papers of and relating to other Deiz family members
  • Series 4: Other papers
  • Series 5: Photographs

Acquisition Information

Gift of Bill Deiz, February 2016 (Lib. Acc. 28769).

Processing Note

Collection was processed by Susan Armitage and Jeffrey A. Hayes, and a collection guide written by Hayes. The guide was revised in June 2024 to expand biographical information, add dates for folders that had previously not included date information, clarify some series and folder-level titles, and conform to current standard.

Related Materials

The Oregon Historical Society Research Library also holds the audio recording of Mercedes Deiz's oral history interview, which is designated SR 1256 and is available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1:  Papers relating to Mercedes Deiz's life and career, 1949-2007Return to Top

Other Descriptive Information

See Series 2, Mercedes Deiz scrapbook materials, for additional materials related to Deiz's life and career.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Resumes and biographical information
1963-1999
1 2
Oral history transcript
1981 February
1 3
Divorce from William Owens
1949
1 4
Personnel file, Bonneville Power Administration
1949-1953
1 5
Loyalty proceedings
Documents in which Deiz responds to accusations of having ties with Communists.
1950-1953
1 6
"Toward a World Community" program schedule
1968 January
1 7
Judicial appointment - letters and notes of encouragement
1969
1 8
Judicial appointments and elections
1955-1984
1 9
Newspaper clippings - courtroom shooting
Articles about an incident in which a man killed his wife's attorney and committed suicide after Deiz ruled against him in a custody case.
1979
1 10
Correspondence and documents about Gates trial
1980
1 11
Newspaper clippings - Gates trial
1980-1992
1 12
Brief of amicus curiae, Oregonian Publishing Company and David Leroy Whitney v. Mercedes Deiz
Document from case that stemmed from Deiz's refusal to allow reporters inside the courtroom for a juvenile case involving Michele Gates.
1980
1 13
Decision, Oregonian Publishing Company and David Leroy Whitney v. Mercedes Deiz
Decision by the Oregon Supreme Court in Deiz's favor, barring press access to the courtroom for the Gates trial.
1980 June 18
1 14
National Center for State Courts
1981
1 15
National Association of Women Judges directory
1979
1 16
Joint Press, Bar, and Broadcasting Committee
1983-1984
2 1
Portland-Guadalajara Sister City Association
1984
2 2
"Homosexual parent" materials
1978; undated
2 3
Marital mediation guidelines and joint custody
1977-1983
2 4
Correspondence and papers regardng juvenile law
1983-1985
2 5
Weddings performed
1985; undated
2 6
Testimonials for others and related clippings
1932-1995
2 7
Handbooks on judicial conduct
1972
2 8
Pacific Ballet Theater correspondence
1985-1987
2 9
Miscellaneous letters
Includes a 2006 letter to Deiz's family. A photograph of Archdeacon Henry Laird Phillips that accompanied one of the letters in this folder was moved to Series 5 (Photographs), and is located in Box 7, Folder 16. A preservation photocopy of the photograph was kept with the letter.
1974-2006
2 10
Notes
circa 1993-1995
2 11
Business cards and stationery
undated
2 12
Awards, certificates and honors (general)
1976-1992
8 1
Oregon District Court Certificate of Admission to the Bar
1960
8 2
Ninth Circuit Court Certificate of Admission
1963
8 3
Portland Public Schools award
1964
8 4
Board of Trustees certificate, Lewis & Clark College
1971
8 5
World Academy membership certificate
1976
2 13
National Center for State Courts award
1984
2 14
Women of Excellence award
1984
2 15
Albina Women's League Foundation award
2000 February 26
3 1
Oregon State Bar award
2000 September 22
8 10
Hunter College honorary degree
1997
3 2
Hunter College honorary degree - correspondence, clippings, etc.
1997
3 3
Correspondence about awards and honors
1966-1968; 1997
3 4
Newspaper clippings about awards and honors
1979-2000
3 5-6
Newspaper clippings about Deiz's career
1961-2005
3 7
Publications and newsletters mentioning Deiz
1966-1999
3 8
Eulogy and memorials
2005-2007

Series 2:  Mercedes Deiz scrapbook materials, 1971-1990Return to Top

Clippings, documents, photographs, and ephemera removed from scrapbooks.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
3 9
1971-1974 scrapbook
1971-1974
3 10-11
1972 scrapbook
1972
4 1
1973-1976 scrapbook
1973-1976
4 2-4
1975-1977 scrapbook
1975-1977
4 5-7
1975-1978 scrapbook
1975-1978
4 8
1979-1980 scrapbook
1979-1980
4 9
1981-1982 scrapbook
1981-1982
5 1-2
1988-1990 scrapbook
1988-1990

Series 3:  Papers of and relating to other Deiz family members, 1944-2004Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
5 3
Correspondence and clippings about war bond poster featuring Robert Deiz
1944; circa 1995
5 4
Newspaper clippings about Robert Deiz
1944-1945
5 5
Obituaries and materials mentioning Robert Deiz
1942-1992
5 6
Evergreen Aviation Museum award given posthumously to Robert Deiz
2004
5 7
Carl Deiz newspaper clippings
1949-2004
5 8
Carl Deiz oral history transcript
2003
5 9
Correspondence between Carl Deiz and Betty Gobert regarding Robert Deiz
2000
5 10
Bill Deiz - Appellee's Brief
Appears to be school assignment; contains edits and comments by Mercedes Deiz.
circa 1972

Series 4:  Other papers, 1943-2014Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
5 11
Newspaper clippings on Black civil rights
1943-2014
5 12
Tuskegee Airmen - general history
circa 1944-2002
5 13
Programs and invitations for award and banquet ceremonies
circa 1985-2005
5 14
Buffalo Soldiers Reunion Program
1999
5 15
Urban League of Portland - "On the Road to Equality: A 50-Year Retrospective"
Publication by Dr. Darrell Millner. Includes an image of Mercedes Deiz and Carl Deiz.
1995
5 16
"Portland's Albina Community: The History of Portland's African American Community, 1805 to the Present"
1993
6
"Oral Histories of Women of Color"
Partial dissertation by Kenneth W. Bagley. Does not include Mercedes Deiz.
1991 June
Folder
8 6
Print of Jacob Landau's "Nat Turner"
undated

Series 5:  Photographs, circa 1875-1997Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Subseries 1.1: Photographs of and relating to Mercedes Deiz
Box Folder
7 1
General
1960-1997
7 2
Studio portraits
1974-1982
7 3
Judicial inauguration
1970 January 7
7 4
National College of State Trial Judges banquet, University of Nevada Reno
1971
7 5
AM Northwest event
1981 June 23
7 6
Adoption ceremony
Adoption of Kara Miller, officiated by Mercedes Deiz.
1982 January 7
7 7
Hunter College commencement
Event at which Mercedes Deiz received an honorary degree.
1997
Folder
Oversize 1
Poster for National College of Juvenile Justice's Spring College, held at University of Nevada, Reno
Poster includes photographs of Mercedes Deiz and other faculty for the event, as well as National Council of Juvenile Court judges.
1976
Subseries 1.2: Photographs of other people and events
Box Folder
7 8
Carl and Robert Deiz (prints and negatives)
circa 1930-1956
7 9
Robert Deiz
1937-circa 1980
7 10
Robert Deiz - war bonds poster
circa 1944
7 11
Deiz family and friends
circa 1900-1940
7 12
Deiz family and friends
circa 1875-1940
7 13
Deiz family and friends, and unidentified
circa 1940-1965
7 14
Unthank children
undated
7 15
Tuskegee Airmen
circa 1942-1945
7 16
Archdeacon Henry Laird Phillips
Photograph that was sent with a letter in Box 2, Folder 9.
circa 1875
8 7
"Mrs. Pete," "Grandma Foster," and unidentified woman
circa 1900
8 8
Protective Order of Dining Car Waiters banquet
circa 1935
8 9
Wayne Morse
circa 1965
Folder
Oversize 1
Unidentified church choir
undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African American women judges--Oregon--Portland
  • African American women judges--Oregon--Portland--Photographs
  • African Americans--Oregon--Portland
  • African Americans--Oregon--Portland--Photographs
  • Judges--Oregon--Portland
  • Judges--Oregon--Portland--Photographs
  • Women judges--Oregon--Portland

Personal Names

  • Deiz, Carl, 1920-2014
  • Deiz, Carl, 1920-2014--Photographs
  • Deiz, Mercedes F. L. (Mercedes Frances Lopez), 1917-2005--Family
  • Deiz, Mercedes F. L. (Mercedes Frances Lopez), 1917-2005--Photographs
  • Deiz, Robert William, 1919-1992
  • Deiz, Robert William, 1919-1992--Photographs

Family Names

  • Deiz family
  • Deiz family--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • certificates
  • clippings (information artifacts)
  • correspondence
  • legal documents
  • photographs
  • scrapbooks