This collection documents the public and private lives of Victor L. Berger and his wife, Meta Schlichting Berger. The manuscripts, covering primarily 1895 to 1929, provide resources for study in the fields of labor, reform, politics, socialism, foreign affairs, civil liberties, pacifism, labor, and women's history. The Berger papers contain a substantial amount of family correspondence that supplies an insider's view of congressional, labor, and party politics and also paints a full portrait of the marriage of an activist couple. There also is substantive correspondence from an array of significant individuals involved in socialist, labor, and reform politics (see this finding aid's Appendix II: Index of Selected Prominent Correspondents). It not only provides insight into national and local politics but also offers information on Berger's role as a leader of Milwaukee's German-American community and as the editor and publisher of a daily newspaper.
The Berger Papers consist of family and professional correspondence, biographical materials, campaign literature and constituent newsletters, speeches and writings, and other related documents. Except for the congressional casework and subject files (series B.2.b and B.2.c), it is impossible to reconstruct the original order of the papers as maintained by the Bergers. The papers that remained in the family's custody had frequently been rearranged, apparently by Doris Berger Hursley, to serve as a research file for her proposed biography of her father. Those papers held by the Milwaukee County Historical Society have been integrated into the records of the Social Democratic Party. The papers have been organized as indicated below. Within each section listed, the papers have been arranged chronologically, unless otherwise noted in the descriptions following.
When a document could be dated only by month or year, it was filed at the end of that month or year. Thus, a letter dated July, 1916, can be found after letters dated July 31, 1916, and a letter dated 1916 will appear after letters dated December 31, 1916. When an undated document could have been written during a span of years, it was filed at the end of the first year of the period. For example, a letter possibly written between 1917 and 1921 will appear at the end of the documents for 1917.
The collection is organized in six series:
- A. Berger Family Correspondence, 1882-1929, undated
- B. Victor Berger Papers
- C. Meta Berger Papers
- D. Milwaukee County Historical Society, Social Democratic Party Collection, 1897-1919, undated
- E. Doris Berger Papers, 1913-1937, 1944, undated
- F. Elsa Berger Papers, 1923-1935, 1944-1945, undated
Series A. Berger Family Correspondence 1882-1929, undated
The Berger Family Correspondence is one of the most important and comprehensive series in this collection for documenting the lives of Victor and Meta Berger. This body of material is unusually extensive and complete, consisting of nearly ten thousand pages spanning 1882 to 1929. The series includes correspondence exchanged prior to Victor's death on August 7, 1929, by Victor, Meta, their children Doris and Elsa, their sons-in-law Colin Welles and Jan Edelman, and other extended family members, including Victor's and Meta's siblings. (Meta's letters to and from her daughters after Victor's death are filmed with her other correspondence; see series C.2 below.)
The salutations on many letters are vague or contain nicknames, such as “Schatzl” and “Mama” for Meta; “Schatzl,” “Wonderman,” and “Papa” for Victor; “Duddie” or “Pudge” for Doris; “Schnuckie” for Doris or Elsa; and “Cole” for Colin. The name of the person addressed has been added in brackets on the letters. (The Berger and Schlichting family charts, above, provide full names of relatives mentioned in the text and explain their relationship to Victor and Meta. This finding aid's Appendix I is a list of names used frequently in the family correspondence; it identifies many of the individuals mentioned only by first name or nickname.) Some letters have dates that were apparently added by Doris while working on her father's biography; these dates are often inaccurate. Undated or obviously misdated letters have been dated as closely as possible and the correct information has been added in brackets on the letters.
The correspondence in this series is extensive because Victor Berger's activities frequently took him away from home while he took part in labor conventions, party meetings, rallies on behalf of socialists throughout the country, speaking tours, international socialist congresses, fund raising for political campaigns and his newspaper, and attendance at sessions of the House of Representatives. In addition, Meta Berger regularly spent summers with the Berger children in northern Wisconsin while Victor remained in Milwaukee. When separated, the Bergers wrote almost daily, leaving a full record of their activities and opinions. After Doris and Elsa left home, Meta maintained an extensive correspondence with the children, reporting on her own and Victor's lives.
The family correspondence documents various activities in which the Bergers were interested--socialism, pacifism, education, the women's movement, labor, civil liberties, the newspaper business, urban ethnic life, and politics. The letters offer a unique glimpse into the family life of a prominent socialist couple. The Bergers mixed family news with information about politics, the newspaper business, analysis of contemporary events, and commentary on their meetings with the leading individuals of their day.
Victor and Meta were exceedingly frank about public issues and personalities in their private letters, with politics frequently a topic for discussion. In his early courtship letters, Victor tells of his plans to visit Eugene V. Debs in the Woodstock jail and his efforts at the Populist Party convention of 1896 in which he tried to win the presidential nomination for Debs. Victor's letters continued in a political vein for the next thirty-five years, as he shared with Meta his observations and opinions about public life. Whether discussing the intricacies of Socialist Party politics, labor organizing, the status of workers in postwar Germany, the Bolshevik revolution, or meetings with figures such as Adolph Ochs, Warren Harding, or Samuel Gompers, Berger wrote as both an interested observer and an active participant who sought to shape events.
Victor Berger knew almost every leading figure in the socialist movement, and his letters comment on most of them, including Oscar Ameringer, Eduard Bernstein, Eugene V. Debs, Bill Haywood, Morris Hillquit, Daniel Hoan, Karl Kautsky, Meyer London, Jean Longuet, Upton Sinclair, Seymour Stedman, and Lincoln Steffens. Berger traveled and spoke extensively on behalf of the Socialist Party, and as a result his letters include insights into the successes and failures of socialists in California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New York, and Oklahoma. His letters also discuss national and international socialist meetings.
Because of his prominence as the nation's leading Socialist politician and his orientation to practical politics, Berger's circle of contacts extended far beyond the socialist movement. A number of his letters discuss his strained relationship with AFL President Samuel Gompers. After his first election to Congress in 1910, Berger's letters discuss his dealings with non-socialist politicians, comment on political leaders such as Robert M. La Follette, Sr., and describe meetings with Presidents Taft, Harding, and Coolidge.
Berger's letters also offer details on organized labor. He reports on strikes and labor relations in Milwaukee as well as at the national level. In 1913, while traveling with Eugene Debs and Adolph Germer on behalf of the Socialist Party to West Virginia to investigate a particularly violent coal miners' strike, Berger wrote a series of letters to Meta describing what he learned.
The family correspondence also contains details about Victor and Meta Berger's activities during World War I, their free-speech efforts, his trial and conviction under the Espionage Act, the denial of his congressional seat, and his postwar career in the House of Representatives after the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. The Bergers also discuss federal tampering with their mail during World War I and restrictions on speaking engagements during the war and the subsequent Red Scare.
In addition to discussing politics, the family letters also document Victor's efforts to run a successful socialist daily newspaper. The letters reveal both his role as a publisher seeking financing for the paper and his attention to editorial content. In one letter, Meta complained about the writing of the young Carl Sandburg, who was secretary to Milwaukee's first socialist mayor. The letters during the 1920s provide information on Victor's role in establishing the Oklahoma Leader, a daily socialist paper edited by Oscar Ameringer in Oklahoma City, and Berger's efforts prior to his death to sell the Milwaukee Leader in anticipation of his retirement.
Meta's letters are also extraordinarily full, mixing love notes, news about family matters, political commentary, and information about the newspaper business. Although less political in content than Victor's, her letters offer insights into local and occasionally national politics. Meta's correspondence often contains details about Milwaukee politics when Victor was absent from the city. Her letters reveal changes in her self-perception from that of a deferential wife who originally had little interest in politics to that of an activist who served as an elected member of the Milwaukee school board for thirty years. They also document her role in Milwaukee educational politics, her increasing participation in Victor's campaigns, her role in state and national women's suffrage and peace movements, and her involvement with the 1924 Progressive campaign of Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Meta's letters also discuss her participation in and later resignation from the National American Woman Suffrage Association, her support for the National Woman's Party, and her involvement in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
During World War I, Meta's letters to her daughters, who were away from home attending college, provide fuller accounts of Victor's indictment, trial, and conviction than do Victor's own letters. Meta attended some of the hearings over Victor's seating in Congress during 1919, and her letters not only informed her daughters of events in Congress but also tried to analyze the causes of race riots in Washington, D.C. Beginning in the 1920s, Meta traveled outside the country on several occasions, and her letters to family members contain her observations about the Philippines, China, and Japan (1921-22), Germany (1923), and Haiti and Panama (1925).
Most of the correspondence is in English, although a few of the letters exchanged between Victor, Meta, and Doris are in German. Early letters from Victor's sisters and father are often in German, and a few are in Yiddish. Some letters are in poor condition, having been damaged by water and poor storage conditions, and may be difficult to read.
The following additional family correspondence can be found in the Milwaukee County Historical Society, Records of the Social Democratic Party (Series D), and are filmed with that series:
- Meta to Victor, 2/28/13 (Reel 45)
- Meta to Victor, undated [filed in April, 1913] (Reel 45)
- Doris to Victor and Meta, undated [filed April 1914] (Reel 47)
- Rose Berger Morganstern to Victor and Meta, 10/10/14 (Reel 48)
- Victor to Meta, 1/17/15 (Reel 49)
- Meta to Victor, 8/7/17 (Reel 53)
- Meta to Victor, 8/24/17 (Reel 53)
- Meta to Victor, 7/31/18 (Reel 54)
- Meta to Victor, undated [filed in July, 1918] (Reel 54)
- Meta to Victor, 8/5/18 (Reel 54)
- Meta to Victor, 8/21/18 (Reel 54)
- Mathilde Berger Weingarten to Victor and Meta, 1/3/19 (Reel 54)
- Mathilde Berger Weingarten to Meta, 1/27/19 (Reel 54)
- Victor to Doris, 5/9/19 (Reel 55)
Series B. Victor Berger Papers
Subseries 1. Biographical materials
Section a. Scrapbooks, circa 1888-1912: The scrapbooks contain clippings in English and German, including editorials and theater reviews by Berger himself, along with a few items of ephemera. Topics include local German-American cultural and political organizations and events, such as the Milwaukee Socialist Party and the Southside Milwaukee Turnverein, and Berger's 1910 election and subsequent service in the U.S. House of Representatives. The scrapbook on the Kress controversy of 1905 concerns the compatibility of socialism and religion. The Wisconsin Historical Society has retained only the ephemera in hard copy after microfilming because of problems in preserving the original clippings.
Section b. Memorandum books, circa 1915-1919: These small books contain clippings, addresses, a few cash account transactions, and some Socialist Party voting records.
Section c. Address books, circa 1927-1929: Although both books cover the same time period, these two small volumes generally contain different entries. The second also includes a list of personal assets and liabilities.
Section d. Other documents, 1883-1929: These miscellaneous documents include Berger's naturalization papers, certificates of election, credentials, membership cards, press passes, passports, letters of introduction, and White House invitations. Also included are early documents concerning teaching in Milwaukee, a 1925 will, a 1928 petition for an election recount, and several of Berger's business cards, as well as resolutions passed after his death.
Section e. Biography (unpublished) by Doris Berger, circa 1926-1980: Reworked repeatedly for more than fifty years but never completed, Doris's manuscript biography of her father includes valuable anecdotal information based on her recollections that cannot be found elsewhere. She writes about her parents' early lives and families, their characters, and her relationship with them. Rather than emphasizing her father's public and political career and philosophy, the writings are of a more personal nature. Prominent individuals mentioned include Arthur Brisbane, Eugene Debs, Inez Milholland, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., and Upton Sinclair.
The manuscript consists of a synopsis, outline, introduction, and eight chapters. The synopsis and outline, though not always followed, provide a general guide to chapter contents. Each of the eight chapters consists of one or more drafts, along with notes and fragments. The latest draft version (when this could be determined) is filed first. The notes and fragments, while partially duplicative of the drafts, contain additional information not found elsewhere.
Section f. Brief memoir by Elsa Berger, circa 1973: In this memoir, Elsa discusses her childhood, education, and relationship with her parents. It may have been written in 1973 for the fiftieth anniversary of her graduation from the University of Pennsylvania's medical school.
Section g. Articles, clippings, biographical sketches by others, 1895-1935, undated: This folder consists of miscellaneous short newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and typescript and mimeographed materials concerning Berger. These materials are not comprehensive. Posthumous materials include a funeral address, a brochure issued by the Victor L. Berger Foundation, and a draft bill to pay the portion of Berger's congressional salary that was withheld when he was denied his seat in the House of Representatives.
Subseries 2. Correspondence
Section a. General correspondence, 1886, 1894-1929, undated: This section consists primarily of correspondence with individuals, both prominent and lesser known, discussing political issues and Berger's publishing enterprises. It includes correspondence with many of the leading members of the Socialist Party and the labor movement. The bulk of the correspondence dates from Berger's congressional terms (1911-1913, 1923-1929), although this section tends to be more substantive than the correspondence found in the congressional subject files and constituent casework series (B.2.b and B.2.c).
The early correspondence (pre-1910) tends to be largely incoming letters and is not as voluminous as that of the later period. Nonetheless, it contains a number of significant letters that shed light on Berger and the socialist movement. Nine letters from Eugene V. Debs dated between 1898 and 1905 illustrate Berger's and Debs's early work in founding the Social Democratic Party and later the Socialist Party of America as well as the growing split between the two men. The early part of the collection also contains letters from prominent socialists, including Edward Ellis Carr, Morris Hillquit, Robert Hunter, Algie Simons, and Lincoln Steffens, that provide information on the development of the Socialist Party.
The correspondence also provides background on Berger's efforts to finance and operate the Milwaukee Leader. Letters from Arthur Brisbane, a Hearst newspaper chain columnist, reveal Berger's efforts to raise money for the paper. The letters of Elizabeth H. Thomas, Berger's aide and the associate editor of the paper, and Herman W. Bistorius, the Leader's business manager, are especially valuable for understanding the day-to-day operations of the paper and its relationship to the Socialist Party and to local labor unions. Thomas's letters, and later those of Milwaukee mayor Daniel W. Hoan and of his aide, Thomas M. Duncan, are helpful for Milwaukee socialist politics.
The World War I-era correspondence documents Berger's unsuccessful efforts to obtain a passport to attend an international socialist peace conference in 1917 as well as his increasing legal difficulties with the federal government. The collection also contains many letters from Wisconsin newspapers that refused to run Berger's advertisements during his 1918 campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Berger traveled and spoke extensively on behalf of the party, and as a result his letters include insights into the successes and failures of local socialist organizations. Berger's correspondents wrote asking his views or offering their opinions on current affairs and party matters. In letters to his colleagues, he wrote of his strategies and ideas for strengthening the party, of his vision for the movement's future, and of his position on issues.
Widely regarded as the representative not only of Wisconsin's Fifth Congressional District but of socialism itself in Congress, Berger also received considerable correspondence from people all over the country, both supporters and opponents of his positions. The letters discuss a range of topics, including tariffs, the Sacco and Vanzetti case, and foreign affairs. A number of letters are routine requests for copies of Berger's speeches. A letter of October, 1928, includes a scrapbook of a congressional inspection tour of Minnesota boundary waters in which Berger participated. Some correspondence is from Marx Lewis, Berger's congressional secretary from 1923 to 1929.
Beginning in 1925, Berger apparently filed related correspondence together in packets. These packets have been kept together and are filed by the date of the earliest letter. Important correspondents include Arthur Brisbane, Eugene V. Debs, William T. Evjue, Adolph Germer, Emma Goldman, Morris Hillquit, Daniel Hoan, Robert Hunter, Ada James, Frank Kellogg, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Fiorello La Guardia, H. L. Mencken, Frank Morrison, Gifford Pinchot, Lincoln Steffens, William Howard Taft, and Norman Thomas. For a more complete list, see the Index of Selected Prominent Correspondents, in Appendix II below.
Section b. Congressional subject files, 1921-1929: These research files are generally not substantive but serve to indicate some of Berger's interests during his congressional terms. They consist mainly of research and background materials and correspondence, arranged alphabetically by subject. Congress gave Berger a platform to promote some longstanding interests, such as immigration reform and old-age pensions. Other areas of interest arose in the aftermath of the war, including French debt resolution, military appropriations, return of alien property, and revision of the Versailles Treaty.
Section c. Constituent casework, 1923-1929: These files deal with problems that Berger's constituents encountered with the government, such as immigration and naturalization laws and regulations, pensions, public employment, and paroles. They date largely from the end of Berger's congressional service, especially 1926 to 1929, and are arranged alphabetically by constituent name.
Section d. General mailings, circa 1880s-1929, undated: The mailings issued by Berger consist of only one folder. Topics include early Turnverein activities (some in German); other local activities (in English and German); congressional reports to constituents; and press releases, many containing entire speeches or excerpts. One notable document is Berger's minority report at the International Socialist Conference Committee on Reparations and the Ruhr, about 1923.
The mailings received by Berger date generally from 1917 to 1920 and from 1923 to 1929. They are primarily Socialist Party materials--from the press service, containing news and speeches and writings of prominent socialists such as Norman Thomas and Eugene Debs; from the National Executive Committee, including minutes of committee meetings and conventions; and from international, national, state, and local organizations. The mailings discuss party issues and finances; the war; disarmament and the peace negotiations; support for indicted, convicted, or imprisoned socialists (most prominently Debs, Kate Richards O'Hare, and Berger); party relations with Russia and the communists; and the coalition with the Progressives.
The mailings also include several letters of appeal--a 1926 plea by Emma Goldman on behalf of imprisoned Russian revolutionaries; a 1928 letter from “Allen-A Locked-Out Knitters,” Kenosha, Wisconsin; and a 1929 letter on behalf of Rosika Schwimmer, a European suffragist and peace advocate who was denied U.S. citizenship.
Subseries 3. Speeches and writings
Section a. By Berger, 1901-1929, undated: Although he was a poor public speaker, Berger's contemporaries lauded his skills as a writer and editor. This series offers insight into Berger's public statements on the issues of his day. Fuller documentation can, of course, be found in the Congressional Record, the editorial columns of the Milwaukee Leader, the Vorwaerts, and the Social-Democratic Herald, and two volumes of his collected writings: Berger's Broadsides (Milwaukee, 1912) and Voice and Pen of Victor L. Berger: Congressional Speeches and Editorials (Milwaukee, 1929).
Many speeches and writings in this section concern Socialist Party history, platforms, and issues. A few deal with Milwaukee politics. Subjects addressed during the congressional periods reflect those in his congressional subject file. They include constitutional reform, immigration, tariff reform, U.S. policy toward Mexico, old-age pensions (1911), anti-lynching (1927), and Prohibition (1928).
World War I occasioned much writing and speaking by Berger on the causes of the war, U.S. participation, postwar peace negotiations and disarmament, the League of Nations, French debt settlement, relations with Germany, and revision of the Versailles Treaty. The federal government's actions against Berger and the Leader also resulted in numerous speeches and articles. Particularly notable are the pamphlet containing the addresses to the court of Berger and his co-defendants in the Espionage Act trial (January, 1919); Berger's history of the post office's actions against the Leader (May 23, 1919); the brochure containing his open letter and statements to members of the House of Representatives on the question of his seating (1919); and his farewell speech to Congress, as reprinted in American Monthly (April, 1929).
This section also contains a signed report to the Socialist Party from the committee (of which Berger was a member) appointed to investigate a miners' strike in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (February 14, 1915). His 1909 speeches in Berlin and Vienna and two 1924 speeches on proposed credits for Germany are in German.
The note cards for his speeches have been organized as much as possible from an initially disordered state and given approximate dates. Subjects include the Teapot Dome scandal, public ownership of railroads, capitalism, communism, international economics and trade, revenue bills and income tax, support for the presidential candidacy of Robert M. La Follette, Sr. in 1924, and farm subsidies. Some 1917 speech notes are in German.
Section b. By others and unattributed, 1902-1929, undated: This section contains some interesting items on socialism and on war issues. They include writings on the history of the Social-Democratic Herald and the founding of the Milwaukee Social-Democratic Publishing Company, printed about 1909; “In Self-Defense,” a 1912 typescript criticism of Eugene Debs by Morris Hillquit; “Berger's Hits and Misses...,” a 1917 reprint of a 1912 booklet containing editorials by Daniel De Leon from the Socialist Labor Party's New York Daily People; ten unpublished leaflets on war by Scott Nearing, 1918; and a 1926 speech by U.S. Senator Robert L. Owen concerning war reparations, reprinted in German in Berlin.
Subseries 4. Legal documentation, 1909-1923
Legal papers concern federal actions against Berger, as well as Carney v. Berger, the hearings on the question of Berger's seating in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1919. The papers include indictments, findings of fact, reports, briefs and arguments, and decisions. Further documentation of the hearings, including a transcript of the Chicago trial, can be found in official government publications. Other materials in this file concern 1909 and 1912 lawsuits against Berger's publishing company, and the 1918 case of Wisconsin resident Julius Henning, who was indicted for obstructing recruitment and enlistment.
Subseries 5. Campaign documentation, 1894-1928
The campaign literature includes flyers, special newspaper editions, brochures, mass mailings, and posters. A few pieces are in German and Polish. Several items issued by the Socialist Party and by Berger's opponents are found here. The 1926 campaign ledger is a record of contributions and appears to be in Meta Berger's hand. The volume also contains a list of periodical subscriptions from about 1923 to 1925. The first part of the 1928 volume lists receipts and expenses for the state Socialist Party from February and March; the latter part appears to be a record of contributions and expenses from Berger's 1928 congressional campaign. The miscellaneous campaign expenses mostly concern billboard postings.
Subseries 6. Milwaukee Social-Democratic Publishing Company (MSDPC) materials, 1905-1929
These materials consist of annual reports, financial reports, reports on advertising and circulation, some legal papers, and miscellaneous items. The legal papers include the state 1905 incorporation charter of Vorwaerts Publishing Company, mortgages, bonds issued, bylaws, and draft contracts between the MSDPC and the Oklahoma Leader Publishing Company. Weekly payroll ledger sheets for November 2-3, 1928, and a 1922-1923 sheet listing individual staff members give some indication of the size and nature of the publishing operation.
Subseries 7. Miscellany, 1910-circa 1927
This section includes an extensive order list for copies of Berger's congressional speeches in 1912, indicating their quantity and widespread distribution; analyses of socialist voting records, especially in Berger's 1918 Senate campaign; a mimeographed chart from about 1924 on women's participation (by country) in the Socialist Party, politics, trade unions and journalism; and some typescripts concerning financial intrigues in Mexico and the Tampico flag incident.
Series C. Meta Berger Papers
Subseries 1. Biographical materials
Section a. Autobiography (unpublished), 1943-1944: Meta Berger wrote this manuscript in her last years at the suggestion of a neighbor, Miriam Frink, who donated the materials. Meta describes her own and her husband's early life, their meeting and subsequent marriage and family life, Victor's career, and her participation in civic and political affairs. It ends with Victor's death in 1929, except for a description of Meta's trip to Russia in 1935. The collection includes both manuscript and typescript copies, except for the portion covering 1920-1929, which appears only in the manuscript form. Editorial notes and corrections on both versions are probably by Frink.
Section b. Notebooks and diary, 1918-1919, 1932, 1935: In these journals Meta details her observations, experiences, and reflections during three important events--her husband's trial, her trip as an unofficial delegate of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom to a disarmament conference in Geneva, and her visit to Russia. The notebook kept during the trial, 1918-1919, consists of brief penciled notes on testimony. It largely lacks personal observations and may have been used for defense strategy discussions. Some pages contain drawings of courtroom figures. In the 1932 diary Meta discusses people she met, interviews she conducted, conference issues, and her impressions as a tourist in Italy and Monaco.
The 1935 notebook from her Russian trip is divided into four parts. The first contains typed questions by subject, with a few handwritten answers. The second is a diary, in which Meta describes the educational experiences provided by the Russians, which included a May Day celebration; visits with soldiers and trade unionists; tours of schools, factories, construction sites, collective farms, and mines; and cultural and social events. Meta also describes her meeting with U.S. Ambassador William C. Bullitt. The last two parts contain several addresses and a few miscellaneous handwritten pages. The published pamphlet resulting from this trip, which lists her as the author, is included with her writings (Series C.3).
Section c. Other documents, 1862-1945, undated: This section contains not only Meta's documents but also several belonging to her parents, Bernhard and Mathilda Krak (or Krack) Schlichting, and her grandfather, Dr. Carl (Charles) Krak (Krack), a surgeon who served in the Civil War. Meta's own papers include her birth certificate, State Normal School diploma, an 1898 letter of reference as a teacher, passport, election certificates for the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, appointment to the State Board of Education, Socialist Party membership cards and delegate credentials, and a program from the 1939 testimonial dinner given upon her retirement after thirty years on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.
Section d. Manuscript of a brief interview by Doris Berger, 1936: This is a manuscript of an interview of Meta by Doris, using the pseudonym “Debby Poll,” along with correspondence regarding its publication. A different version of this interview was published as Judith Post, “I Say What I Think,” The Woman Today (October, 1936), 14, 30.
Section e. Meta Berger Memorial Committee materials, 1944-1945: The activity of this committee, formed after Meta's death, culminated in a memorial program on April 26, 1945, with William T. Evjue and Marshall Field as the main speakers. The correspondence of Norbert Enzer, chairman, and Miriam Frink, corresponding secretary, with prospective sponsors includes letters from many of Meta's colleagues, friends, and admirers.
Section f. Clippings, 1915-1918, 1930-1945, undated: These scattered clippings concern Meta's local civic and political work. Some were donated by Miriam Frink, including those about Meta's death, funeral, and posthumous tributes.
Section g. Funeral register, 1944: The funeral register contains signatures of attendees and an envelope of condolence cards.
Subseries 2. Correspondence, 1907-1940, undated
Only selected correspondence has survived, mostly incoming. The largest portion consists of condolence letters received by her on the occasion of Victor's death in 1929. Among the more important items are a 1919 letter from Isaac Ferguson discussing communist opposition to Victor Berger; a 1929 letter from Daniel Hoan attempting to convince Meta to run for Congress; and a series of 1940 letters concerning her break with the Socialist Party because of her involvement with communist-front organizations. The series also includes correspondence with Genevieve Clark, wife of House Speaker James Beauchamp “Champ” Clark; with Marx Lewis and Clarence Darrow regarding efforts to establish the Victor L. Berger Foundation; and with Theodora Youmans and Ada James regarding women's suffrage.
Other correspondence concerns the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, the women's suffrage movement, the Socialist Party, peace organizations, and the formation of the Conference for Progressive Political Action. A letter from the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, September 17, 1930, details Victor Berger's service in the Milwaukee schools.
Correspondence between Meta and her family following Victor's death is filed here rather than in the Berger Family Correspondence series. Family correspondence includes letters written during her 1932 trip to Europe and her 1935 trip to the Soviet Union. There are some letters in German, especially following her 1923 trip to Europe and after Victor's death. Some of the correspondence in this series is listed in Appendix II. Index to Selected Prominent Correspondents.
Subseries 3. Speeches and writings, 1912-circa 1938, undated
Topics of these few speeches, writings, and radio talks include the Leader, education, Russia, women's suffrage, Prohibition, and peace.
Series D. Milwaukee County Historical Society, Social Democratic Party Collection, 1897-1919, undated
This series represents a portion of the Social Democratic Party collection at the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Although filed with the party's records, these papers appear to have been Berger's own personal files. This series deals almost exclusively with the public life of Victor Berger and is strongest for the period 1911 to 1919, with few records from before or after that time. Some of these papers may have been among those seized from Berger's office by government agents as evidence in the indictments. Some pencil notations, usually date or year, may have been made by government agents.
The bulk of this series consists of Berger's congressional correspondence files. Many of the letters are routine constituent requests for assistance with the government, requests for copies of Berger's speeches, or comments on public issues, although the congressional years also contains substantive correspondence with socialist leaders on party issues. Some of the letters are written by William Ghent, who served as Berger's secretary for most of his first term. The congressional files are useful for illustrating the operation of his office.
The materials dating from after Berger's departure from Congress in 1913 contains fewer routine items. The letters include discussions of Socialist Party politics, attempts to raise funds for the Milwaukee Leader, and Berger's opposition to American participation in World War I. Correspondence following American entry in the war, although not extensive compared to the earlier years, is especially useful in illuminating Berger's unsuccessful efforts to prevent the post office from revoking the Leader's mailing privileges and his prosecution by the federal government for his opposition to the war.
The series also includes fourteen family letters--eight from Meta (1913, 1917, 1918), two from Victor (1915, 1919), one from Doris (1914), and three from Victor's sisters (1914, 1919)--and they are listed in the description of the Berger Family Correspondence (Series A), above.
Well-known correspondents include Oscar Ameringer, Allan Benson, Arthur Brisbane, Eugene V. Debs, J. Louis Engdahl, Adolph Germer, Samuel Gompers, Morris Hillquit, Edward M. House, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Algernon Lee, Scott Nearing, Gifford Pinchot, Algie Simons, William Howard Taft, and Carl Thompson. For a more complete list, see the Index of Selected Prominent Correspondents in Appendix II of this finding aid.
This series is arranged chronologically, except where the original order kept related correspondence together. These packets are filed by the date of the earliest letter. In addition to the initial file of undated materials, other undated materials within the chronological file were left at the end of the month where found.
Series E. Doris Berger Papers, 1913-1937, 1944, undated
This series is comprised of Biographical Materials, Correspondence, and Speeches and Writings.
Biographical materials consist of a brief diary during Doris' college years, a 1935 scrapbook, and a few other items. The scrapbook concerns an incident involving Doris and Colin Welles and University of Wisconsin Extension Dean Chester D. Snell. Doris taught a class on communism, fascism, and capitalism; Colin was involved with the Milwaukee Vocational School board. Other materials include a history of the Welles family, probably not by Doris.
The correspondence concerns Doris' attempts to sell a play; several letters by husbands Colin Welles and later, Frank Hursley, attempting to sell their writings; condolences after her parents' deaths; and letters of reference for positions in the Philippines in 1921 and with the Milwaukee District Attorney's office in 1931. Family letters consist of two letters from Colin (1935 and 1936), one to Elsa (1931), and condolences from other family members at the time of her parents' deaths. Correspondents include Zona Gale, Arthur Brisbane, Marx Lewis, and University of Wisconsin President Glenn Frank.
Speeches and Writings include drafts and notes for several plays, a speech, and some shorter writings, both fiction and nonfiction. Doris' unpublished biography of her father and manuscript article about her mother are filed with their biographical materials.
Series F. Elsa Berger Papers, 1923-1935, 1944-1945, undated
This small series is comprised of one folder each for Elsa and for Jan Edelman, a Dutchman she met in Europe, and married in 1927 in the U.S. Most of Elsa's correspondence is with Jan, during 1934 and 1935 when he was away obtaining a degree. The remainder consists of letters from friends and condolences upon her father's death. Also included are two pieces of campaign literature from her 1945 candidacy for the Milwaukee School Board (as it was then known).
Edelman's correspondence consists mainly of letters in Dutch and German from correspondents in the Netherlands and Germany. Some appear to be from his parents (addressed to Jan and Elsa) and others may be from business associates.
