Oral history interview with John A. Jelderks

Collection

Identifier: SR 11298

Staff Only

Oral history interview with John A. Jelderks

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with John A. Jelderks was conducted by Donna Sinclair from December 19-27, 2006, and Jan Dilg from May 28 to September 16, 2009, as part of the United States District Court Oral History Project. The interview was conducted in five sessions. The first two sessions were recorded on audiocassette; Audiocassette 1 is missing, but its content is reflected in the interview transcript. The third and fourth sessions were recorded as digital audio files. The fifth session was recorded simultaneously as digital audio files and on videocassette; the audio files contain additional content.

In this interview, Jelderks discusses his family background and early life in Salem, Oregon, his law school education at Willamette University, and his early law career as a district attorney for Marion and Hood River counties. He speaks about serving as a judge in Oregon’s 7th judicial district, about hearing cases regarding the Rajneeshees, and about his unsuccessful 1988 campaign for a seat on the Oregon Supreme Court. He speaks at length about serving as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon from 1991 to the time of the interview, particularly focusing on his decision in the Kennewick Man case, which regarded the custody of ancient Native American remains.

Dates

Creation: 2006 December 19-2009 September 16

Creator

Jelderks, John A. (John Anthony), 1938- (Interviewee, Person)
Dilg, Janice (Janice Lynn) (Interviewer, Person)
Sinclair, Donna L. (Donna Lynn), 1964- (Interviewer, Person)
United States District Court of Oregon Historical Society (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright held by the Oregon Historical Society and the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society. Use of this interview is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

John Anthony Jelderks was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1938. In 1948, the family moved to a farm outside Salem. In 1960, he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Willamette University. He served in the Oregon Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force Reserve while studying law at Willamette. After earning his law degree, he clerked for Oregon Supreme Court Justice Gordon Sloan, worked in the Marion County and Hood River County district attorney’s offices, and briefly practiced law in Hood River. In 1972, he became a judge in Oregon’s 7th judicial district. In 1991, he became a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon.

Jelderks married Ann Marie Aronson while he was in law school, and they later had two children. They divorced in 1977, and in 1979, he remarried to Suzanne Payne Powell and later had one child.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (5 audiocassettes (3 hr., 40 min., 10 sec.) and 1 videocassette (Mini-DV, 1 hr., 40 min., 31 sec.) + transcript (179 pages))

7.83 Gigabytes (11 audio files (WAV, 6 hr., 37 min., 28 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with John A. Jelderks conducted by Donna Sinclair from December 19-27, 2006, and Jan Dilg from May 28 to September 16, 2009, as part of the United States District Court Oral History Project. Jelderks discusses his career as a judge for Oregon's 7th judicial district and as a magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court of Oregon.