This oral history interview with Bonnie J. Mentzer was conducted by Heather Vogelson at Mentzer’s home in Portland, Oregon, as part of the United States District Court Oral History Project. The interview was conducted in two sessions, on July 26 and August 2, 2008. The sound quality is very poor.

In the first interview session, Mentzer discusses her family background and early life in the Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood of Portland, including her education. She talks about properties her family owned and people they rented to. She discusses her college experience at Oregon State College, now Oregon State University, and speaks extensively about studying at the Northwestern College of Law, now part of Lewis & Clark College. She also discusses jobs she held during her time as a student and her involvement in the Oregon Democratic Party. She then talks about her experiences as a woman in law school.

In the second interview session, Mentzer discusses her career as a lawyer. She discusses her work as an Oregon assistant attorney general and cases she worked on, including cases regarding child welfare. She then speaks about her work as a lawyer for the Multnomah County Legal Aid Service. She talks about her experiences practicing law as part of the Mississippi Civil Rights Program in 1970. She discusses her involvement with the Queen’s Bench, an organization for women lawyers in Oregon. She closes the interview by talking about the increase in the number of women entering the legal profession.