Sidney Lezak papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll 903

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The bulk of this collection is scrapbook pages relating to the career of Portland, Oregon, lawyer Sidney Lezak. These scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera, which primarily relate to Lezak's career as U.S. Attorney for Oregon from 1961 to 1982, as well as events held in his honor when he resigned, and some materials relating to his career after leaving the U.S. Attorney's office. Loose materials in the collection include correspondence from his time as U.S. Attorney; photographs, including group photographs of U.S. attorneys; Lezak's resumé from sometime after serving as U.S. attorney; an undated autobiographical sketch; and a poster by the Eugene Coalition Liberation Support Movement, accusing Lezak and witness Joan Coberly of having lied in the trial U.S. v. Eaglin, et al.

Dates

Creation: circa 1960-1990

Creator

Lezak, Sidney I., 1924-2006 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing 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.

Biographical Note

Sidney I. Lezak was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian-American immigrants. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and after the war studied at the University of Chicago, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1946 and a law degree in 1949. From 1953 to 1961, he practiced at the Portland, Oregon, law firm of Bailey, Lezak, Swink & Gates, where he primarily represented labor unions.

In 1961, Lezak was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. He served in this position until 1982 under six presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. Lezak was known for his opposition to the Vietnam War, and as U.S. Attorney helped conscientious objectors find nonmilitary work assignments so as to avoid being drafted. Lezak resigned from the U.S. Attorney's office in 1982 because he disagreed with the Reagan administration's focus on making arrests for drug crimes rather than white collar crimes. He subsequently worked as a mediator, and advocated for alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

Lezak married Muriel Deutsch in 1949; the couple had three children. Lezak died in 2006.

Source: "Sidney I. Lezak (1924-2006)," by Susan Hammer, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lezak-sidney/#.Yv064XbMIuU.

Extent

0.8 Cubic Feet (1 legal document case; 1 slim legal document case; 1 oversize folder (16x20) in shared flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Scrapbook and loose papers and photographs relating to Sidney Lezak's career. Lezak (1924-2006) served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon from 1961 to 1982.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Scrapbook materials gift of Sidney Lezak, August 2005 (Lib. Acc. 25799). Loose papers and photographs gift of Miriam Lezak, February 2022 (RL2022-020).

Related Materials

An oral history with Lezak, SR 1220, is also held at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library and is available online in OHS Digital Collections at https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/sr-1220-oral-history-interview-with-sidney-lezak.