Metro (Bertha) Papers, 1936-1973

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Summary

Title:
Bertha Metro papers
Dates:
1936-1973
Abstract:
Collection contains correspondence, negotiations for contracts, copies of contracts, organizing documents, strike leaflets, and other union documents, together with transcripts of interviews with Metro and her daughter, Phyllis Foley, also a union official. Also includes ephemera, some personal correspondence, and material relating to the hotel strikes of 1937 and 1941-1942. Correspondents include Hugo Ernst, labor official who represented culinary workers.
Extent:
1.25 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date] Bertha Metro Papers (MS 3422). California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers contains material from Bertha Metro's life as a union official, including correspondence, negotiations for contracts, copies of contracts, organizing documents, strike leaflets, and other union documents, together with transcripts of interviews with Metro and her daughter, Phyllis Foley, also a union official, conducted in 1979 by Lucy Kendall as part of the California Historical Society's Women in California project. Included in Metro's papers is ephemera and material relating to the hotel strikes of 1937 and 1941-1942. Correspondents include Hugo Ernst, laor official who represented culinary workers. The personal letters contained in the collection relate to Metro's endorsement of various politicians running for office.

Biographical / historical:

Bertha Metro was born in England. While still a young girl, the family emmigrated to Canada where her father was killed in a tragic mining accident. In her early teens she went to work to help support the family, eventually obtaining employment at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

After her marriage and the birth of a daughter on September 18, 1922 she and her family moved to Idaho where her husband had relatives. In the early 1930s, the family moved to San Francisco. Her husband obtained employment on the waterfront and she went to work in a large hotel as a maid.

In 1936 Metro began organizing the hotel maids on a voluntary basis. At this time she made contact with Hugo Ernst, a labor official who represented the culinary workers. Metro eventually became a labor organizer and union official. The union she represented changed its name many times and was last called the Hotel, Motel and Club Service Workers Union, Local #283, affiliated with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union. Metro was involved in the hotel strike of 1937 and 1941-42.

An earlier oral history was narrated by Metro but was not concluded. After Ms. Metro's death, her daughter, Phyllis Foley (also a union official), agreed to be interviewed to help complete her mother's story as well as trace her own activities as a union official. These oral histories were conducted by the California Historical Society as part of a Women in California interview project.

Acquisition information:
Collection donated by Phyllis Foley, 1979.Transferred to Stanford University Libraries in 2025.
Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged three business days in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff, revised by Tanya Hollis.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-04 15:01:32 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date] Bertha Metro Papers (MS 3422). California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
chscollection@stanford.edu
Website