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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
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Historical Note

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

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Content Description

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.

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Use of the Collection

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.

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Administrative Information

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.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Jeffrey A. Hayes
2016; revised 2024

CC0

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