The Metz Papers deal almost exclusively with her tenure in the Wisconsin Assembly (1975-1987). However, even for this part of her career documentation is limited for the years from 1975 through 1978, and only one file
of material on the Heritage Hill State Park suggests her pre-legislative activities. Furthermore, only a few items (some of which were collected in 1986 by the Archives staff) relate to her unsuccessful campaign as lieutenant governor. There are no materials in the collection relating to her work since leaving the Legislature and no personal papers.
The majority of Metz's files are comprised of correspondence to and from constituents, colleagues, representatives of advocacy groups, and government officials, together with extensive informational support material. As originally received, Metz's papers contained not only copies of her outgoing letters, but also drafts prepared by her staff. When these drafts contained annotations or comments in her hand or significant changes, the drafts have been retained. Routine correspondence in response to individual problems has also been weeded, except in instances in which Metz herself rather than a staff member intervened. Also in the papers are incomplete runs of her newsletters, press releases, occasional prepared speeches, and biographical clippings.
The Metz papers are organized chronologically by session, except for the material on the 1975-1976 and 1977-1978 sessions, which has been combined because of its limited quantity. Within each session, the files are arranged alphabetically by subject. The 1979-1980 files consist of the same general, alphabetically-arranged files present for other sessions as well as a separate file of records of the Assembly Energy Committee. The Energy Committee file is ordered as alphabetical subject files and numerically-arranged bill files.
The issues on which Metz achieved a statewide reputation, particularly topics related to women and children and to energy conservation, are well represented in the collection. Included are her papers as head of the Assembly Energy Committee for the 1979-1980 legislative session, a session in which energy concerns were a major issue, as well supplementary material on the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Energy. The documentation on child care is equally rich. In this regard Metz's files supplement the official records of the Committee on Child Care and Early Education, and they provide unique documentation on the child care legislation she sponsored and on her general advocacy of day care.
In addition, at the time her papers were organized in 1989 her files on DILHR's Asbestos Study Group were the only records of that effort in archival custody. A substantial number of the topical files in Metz's papers contain informational material distributed to her as a member of the Joint Finance Committee as part of the budget review process. This material is of particular importance, as it is largely absent from the official records of the Joint Finance Committee held by the Archives as part of Series 169.
