Census records contain data that are mandated to be reported to enumerators by the head of household, however, there are many exceptions in practice, including the enumerator adding data that may not be accurate. These notes on searches of the 1931 census using new Ancestry handwriting recognition tools show anonymized results for Vancouver and New Westminster districts for women in the restaurant sector by occupation, work categories, and were identified as Black, Japanese, or Chinese under the "racial origin" category. See the attached "Bulletin No XXII, Population of Canada, 1931, By Racial Origins" for more details on how the 1931 Census represented these.

Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union International 31st General Convention: Canadian Caucus Minutes April 1947. Vice President A.R. Johnstone. Sr. May Ansell Loc 28 Elected as Secretary

Convention held in at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 3, 1947. Election promotional card for C.T. McDonough General Secretary--Treasurer of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' International Alliance and Bartenders' International Leagure of America. Collected by May Ansell [Martin].

Convention held in at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 3, 1947. Anti-Communist Small publications collected by May Ansell [Martin]

Convention held in at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 3, 1947. Ephemera collected by May Ansell [Martin]. Newspaper clippings.

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: Correspondence between Archive R. Johnstone (Nov 13) and May Leniczek (Nov 1re establishment of a dual union.

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: 1. Notice to all HREU Members 2. Multiple stapled notes, papers 3. Handwritten notice of meeting, Nov 12, 2 pages

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: 1. Public Statement on HREU Loc 28 paper 2. Letter from Archie Johnstone, annotated

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: 1. Letter from Vancouver, New Westminster District Trades and Labor Council to May Leniczek Nov 6. 2.Notice of all-members meeting to be held November 9th, 1947 3. Letter to Archie R. Johnstone from May Leniczek, Sec. Bus. Agent HREU Local 28 asking him to attend special meeting of November 8th. 4. Minutes of the Citizens meeting Nov 9th. (2 images)

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: 1. Letter to be read at Meeting from Bro. James G. Lyons, Trustee Local 28; 2. HREU Loc 28 notice of special meeting sent out by Archie Johnstone, International Vice President Trustee, Local 28.

A research selection of items related to the 1937 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes: 1. Letter From Stanton and Munro to The Hon. J.W. DeB. Farris, Barrister and Solicitor re Archive Johnstone breaking HREU constitution that internal disputes are not taken to the press. November 1, 1947. Page 1 and 2. 2. Public Statement from HREU Local 28 regarding news coverage.

A research selection of items related to the 1947 expulsion of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 executive members. This selection includes the following 1947 minutes: Special Executive Meeting Oct 18; Special Executive Meeting Oct 30; Special Meeting November 2; Special Executive meetings, convened between membership meetings, November 3; Special Joint Executive and Shop Stewards Meeting, November 7; State of of the Executive Committee, p1 and p2.

Partial floor plan of the Hotel Vancouver [Owned by CN Railways opened 1939] basement. Includes parts of the cafeteria, the Men's Tavern, and the Barber Shop. The images are part of a Fairmont Vancouver Hotel webpage "THE VIBRANT GAY BAR OF HOTEL VANCOUVER IN THE 1940S".

Newspaper want ads, commercials, and promotional writing with mentions of "white help", "white help only", "white cooks" are evident from at least the 1910s through the 1940s. The Douglas Cafe (from the mid-1920s to later-1940s) was a low-profile local cafe operating at 844 Main Street just south of Union, next to Hogan's Alley area, and just a few blocks south of Chinatown. This woman-owned restaurant was operated with the help of her two sisters. The three had left their Russia-born parents' home on the Prairies and come west to settle. The only advertising the cafe placed in newspapers was for help, almost exclusively female. All included "white help only" or equivalent statements. They were also members of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 from the 1920s, one of only a handful of restaurants east of Carrall Street to be organized. While a1980s interview with a member of the family speaks of the cafe, this aspect of their operation was not discussed. This example raises the issues of racial stereotypes, the historic discrimination in Vancouver against Black and Asian ethnicities, and the legacy ofviolence and harrassment of women in the restaurant sector.

Photograph of Vancouver Chief of Police W.W. Foster.

Researchers' notes on the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 minute books. Select years: 1932-1933, 1935-1937, 1943, 1946-1948. The original meeting minutes are held at the UBC Rare Books and Special Collections, part of the Original HREU Local 28 minute books Fonds RBSC-ARC-1255 - Hotel, Restaurant and Culinary Employees' and Bartenders' Union, Local 40 fonds.

A the Regular Business Meeting of Local 28 held October 4, 1937, a resolution was unanimously passed to send a letter to Vancouver City Council saying the White waitresses in the Chinese restaurants "dismissed through the actions of City Council be supported by the Council at the same rate of pay they formerly received from their Chinese employers" as the women had been denied relief. The Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 minutes to not include a copy of the letter, who brought the issue forward, or the response of the City.

A history of the organizing women in the 1930s. Constraints on labour, Women's labour leagues, fishing industry militancy, restaurant strikes, domestic workers conditions, garment workers, saleswomen,

Coroner's Jury, on the murder of 20-year-old waitress, Mary Shaw, recommend "rigid enforcement ...of any legislation governing the employment of female white help by Orientals."

Samples of letters to the editor and news reports about the Vancouver 1931 waitress strike. The strike was called on February 3, 1931. The strike was only minimally covered by the two leading newspaper publishers in British Columbia: The Province and the The Vancouver Sun. Responses to letters to the editor and their replies show a back and forth both sides of the battling parties. Examples of how union members use public forums to educate and rebutt. Feb 4 - Feb 25, 1931.

On Feburary 11, 1937, non-union waitresses of the Crescent Cafe, 251 East Hastings, went on strike for higher wages. The Crescent Cafe was part of the relief restaurant network. The waitresses joined the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 shortly after walking out and Business Agent William "Bill" Stewart completed the initial negotiations on February 15 for a 2-week contract setting a union wage scale of $14 per week for experienced waitresses, $12 for new waitresses, and meals. This contract was "pending further investigations on the cost of its operation." [15 Feb Local 28 Regular Meeting minutes]. There is no follow-up in later minutes. In an unrelated news article the cafe manager is recorded as Mr. Jean Ming, suggesting the Crescent was Chinese-owned. If so, this might have been the first of its kind to be signed by Local 28. Newspaper coverage was minimal with The Province covering the start and end of the strike. Coverage by The Lumber Worker detailed the tactics of the striking waitresses and how the HREU negotiated with a reluctant employer.

VDTLC scanned minutes various years, related to Case Study 1 research spreadsheet CVA VDTLC Minutes 1930-1948 . This research selection covers the Vancouver and New Westminster District Trades and Labour Council meeting minutes from 1947-1949.

VDTLC scanned minutes various years, related to Case Study 1 research spreadsheet CVA VDTLC Minutes 1930-1948 . This research selection covers the Vancouver and New Westminster District Trades and Labour Council meeting minutes from 1944-1946.

The City cancels the licenses of three Vancouver Chinese cafes (Hong Kong Cafe, Gee Kong Cafe, and B.C. Royal Cafe) over dispute on the hiring of White waitresses to work in their cafes. Denis Murphy, (Murphy, Freeman and Murphy) is the cafes' counsel.

In Part 2 of 3, Johnnie Rankin discusses the position of women within the Boilermakers Union and the types of jobs she worked at the shipyard. She also discusses childcare, equal pay, and the existence of issues specific to women. She talks about what she learned from the trade unions, and how working changed her life. Finally, she discusses working in restaurants and approaching the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union. In Part 3 of 3, Johnnie Rankin discusses organizing in restaurants, going to business school, the 1946 strike and the role of women within it, the creation of the Labour Theatre Guild, and the political impact working during the war had on her.

Minutes of the Vancouver and New Westminster District Trades and Labor Council. Researcher scan of microfilm reel, part of City of Vancouver Archive Fonds AM307, Vancouver and District Trades and Labour Council fonds : 1889-1961.

Daisy Brown was the office manager of the Hotel, and Restauarant Employees Union Local 28. She discusses her years with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union and building service union’s joint campaign to organize Vancouver hotels 1946-1947; the high number of single women parents and deserted wives working in the industry; the weakness of the union in comparison to industrial or skilled craft unions due to isolation of the workers; the difficulties the transient nature of the work and continuous shifts posed for organizers; issues of overtime, shift changes, uniforms, seniority; establishing the 40-hour work week; The Only Fish and Chips and Love’s Cafe, Vancouver; deposing the local HREU leadership in 1947 barring them from the office and membership in the union because of their left leanings.

Audio and transcript of Sara Diamond's interview with Elizabeth Wilson.

This item documents the maiden and married names, and alias, Kay Martin, of a spokesperson for the White waitresses working in Chinatown, Vancouver, cafes who were forced out of their jobs by the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Chief in 1937.

At the annual convention elections, 5 of 9 labor progressive members and their allies on the executive council, lost their positions and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) majority.

The League of Women Voters allege white women are working in Chinatown counter to legislation. The City Clerk replies with an interpretation of policies instituted in 1937/1938 which suggests the City may be moving away from their earlier position.

Notes by researcher Sara Diamond from her late 1970s-early 1980s Women's Labour History Project. Diamond's notes are written in cursive and assembled in three parts. Does not always follow chronological order. 1930s-1940s

International Union reps expell alleged Communist officers of HREU Local 28 from the headquarters. These included Emily Watts, local union president and May Ansell, local Businessness Agent. Vancouver Sun October 30, 1947

A thematic guide for the Women's Labour History Project oral histories. This work is ongoing. As of March 2024, we have drawn on oral histories from VIVO Media Arts Centre, SFU Archives, and newspaper interviews . We will soon be working on additions from other archives, like the BC Labour Heritage Centre. This multi-sheet xls spreadsheet includes (1) Object metadata for all interviews; (2) Interviewees biographical details; and (3) Research notes: select excerpts from the interview(s) and details related to our research questions (one sheet per interviewee) ID structure (1) Each interviewee is assigned a letter which is their "Subject ID" (A,B,C, etc.) (2) Each Object (research resource) is assigned an "Object ID" : a combination of the "Subject ID" and a number assigned to delineate each research resource (ie A1, A2, A3, etc). (3) Individual interviewees research sheet is identified using the individual's Subject ID followed by a colon and their surname (ie, A: Fawcett) About our Interviewee Biography sheet Drawing on publicly available resources and implementing genealogical strategies and proof standards, Knights expanded the biographies of the oral history participants. This assisted the researchers with clarifying timelines, locations, and confirming identifies. This latter step was required to ensure that we were researching the correct individual. The women regularly went by nicknames, middle names, maiden names if married, divorced surnames if single, Mrs or Miss irrespective of their actual marital status. It also gives insight into the way waitresses shifted marital status for protection, anonymity, or hirability. The biographic and demographic material also informs the interviewees own statements on why they became involved in union activity or activist movements.

In progress: timeline of key events related to the issue of of White waitresses working in Chinatown, Vancouver, cafes and restaurants, and the subsequent implication and application of municipal and provincial regulations and laws. The final timeline will feature the actions by the waitresses implicated, political allies, and the Hotel Restaurant and Employees Union Local 28. Related unpublished resource include demographic and biographical data of the waitresses. Contact the researcher for access.

Vancouver City Mayor George C. Miller, Corporation Council, License Inspector, Surperintendent Darling, Mr. Denis Murphy on behalf of 7 Chinese-owned restaurants met to discuss "certain irregularities [that] have occured in Chinese restaurants where white waitresses were employed.

Survey of newspaper want ads, commercials, and promotional writing with mentions of "white help", "white help only", "white cooks". Includes union status, other descriptive language, owners names and bios. While multiple search strategies were employed on newspapers.com this does not claim to be a complete record. Some restaurants felt the promotion of their "white help only" status was a selling point for clients. 1/3 of restaurants found in this scan were HREU members.

SD_WLHP_MM3_006 Executive of H.R.E.U. Local 28 elected June 1947 [serving 1947-1948]. [Back row from left] Jimmy Lyons, Trustee; Bob Annola, Trustee; Margaret Shelton, Chairman [sic] of Education and Publicity; Gertrude Philip, Chairman of Social Committee; Roy Moore, Inspector. [Front row from left] Babella [Isabella] Beck, Recording Secretary; Emily Watts, President; Bob Williams, Vice President; May Ansell [Leniczek][Martin] , Secretary Treasurer and Business Agent.

Membership Card and Monthly Stamp Book for May Ansell [Martin], Hotel & Restaurant Employees' International Alliance and Bartenders League of America.

An article document The Mothers' Council of Vancouver history and their work with the unemployed 1935-1938. Author Irene Howard.

Exclusion or Solidarity:Vancouver Workers Confront the Oriental Problem by author Gillian Creese. Examing the history of labour politics in early twentieth-century British Columbia, a period marked by periods of intense anti-Asian agitation and racist legislation. "Although the la­ bour movement is commonly seen as an indication of developing workingclass consciousness, white workers' consciousness of a common workingclass interest in British Columbia did not extend to Asian workers."

A Preliminary Sketch of Chinese Women and Work in British Columbia 1858-1950 by Tamara Adilman.

A report presented to Vancouver City Council by the General Manager of Community Services on Oct 20, 2017. The report outlines the evidence of historical discrimination against Chinese people in Vancouver.

Sia's thesis looks at the campaign by the Mayor and VPD against white waitresses working at Chinese-owned cafes in Chinatown that eventually led to protests by the waitresses, claims of immorality, cancelled business and an eventual settlement that saw the women fired from their jobs during the depression. licences MA Thesis, UBC 2010 fall. Rosanne Sia.

Sara Diamond's research notes from various sources. Good resource for communism and unions.

A reprint of an article by unionist William "Bill" Stewart on the challenges of organizing, published in commemoration of the amalgamation of Hotel, Restaurant and Employees Union Locals 676 an 28.

Women and Girls' Protection Act, Chapter 76, 1923

Back when SOS or Adam and Eve on a raft were things to order if youwere hungry but a little short on time and money, nearly one-fourth of all waitresses belonged to unions. By the time their movement peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, the women had developed a distinctive form of working-class feminism, simultaneously pushing for equal rights and pay and affirming their need for special protections. Dorothy Sue Cobble shows how sexual and racial segregation persistedin wait work, but she rejects the idea that this was caused byemployers' actions or the exclusionary policies of male trade unionists.Dishing It Out contends that the success of waitress unionism wasdue to several factors: waitresses, for the most part, had nontraditionalfamily backgrounds, and most were primary wage-earners. Theirclose-knit occupational community and sex-separate union encouragedfemale assertiveness and a decidedly unromantic view of men andmarriage. Cobble skillfully combines oral interviews and extensivearchival records to show how waitresses adopted the basic tenets ofmale-dominated craft unions but rejected other aspects of male unionculture. The result is a book that will expand our understanding offeminism and unionism by including the gender consciousperspectives of working women. [Source: UI Press]

Researcher notes taken from Vancouver District Labour Council Minutes 1930-1948.

VDTLC scanned minutes (June 1937-June 1941) various years, related to Case Study 1 research spreadsheet CVA VDTLC Minutes 1930-1948 . Issues relevant to Case Study 1 include: 1931 Feb 3, Chinese cooks support the waitress strike; 1937 May 3, Restaurant Employers and their association attempt to form parallel restaurant sector unions to undermine the HREU. 1938, Dual organizing (related to the communist contingent) begins 1938 Mar 15, A pushback against "anti-orientalism" begins from Asian HREU members and others, Like Bill Stewart. 1939 Mar 21, HREU is given jurisdiction over apartment hotels, and the Fish and Oyster Bar goes 100%union. 1940 Feb 6, Communist party expelled; Feb 20 showdown between communist leaders/dominant 1940 Oct, dual council in city with CIO established (communism) 1941 Feb 4, Report on hotel strike and settlement of the Hotel Vancouver 1941 Trouble with union houses

A call to action in response to the expulsion of current female leadership from the HREU and likely predicated on their Communist affiliation. The front page is a Public statement released by the Hotel Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 from the Executive Board Emily Watts, May Leniczek, Roy Moore. Back page proposes the BC Federation of Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Service Workers. A call to action in response to the expulsion of current female leadership from the HREU and likely predicated on their Communist affiliation.

List of union hotels as of August 11th, 1947. The HREU was undertaking a major campaign to unionize them.

Emily Nuttall discusses difficulties with organizing in restaurants (lots of turnover, its consideration as “women’s work”), changes in outlook on the profession from the Depression, her involvement with hotel organizing (particularly in the Georgia Hotel and the Belmont Hotel), and the union’s work towards shorter work weeks and the elimination of split shifts.

Newspaper article documents the first action taken by White waitresses working in Chinatown Restaurants during a morality crackdown by the Mayor's Office and the Vancouver Police. Three Chinese-owned restaurants are threatened with having their licenses pulled if they continue to hire White waitresses. The waitresses argue that they prefer to work for Chinese restaurant owners and can't afford to lose their jobs.

A newspaper article documenting the HREU (AFL)'s call for changes to shift work in cafes and restaurants, following the murder of waitress Olga Hawryluk by a customer. She had been returning home from work at 3am. Speaking for HREU are Mrs. Emily Watts, HREU organizer, and Mrs. May Ansell [AKA Martin], HREU Business Agent.

The script for the Women's Labour History Project video, Fit To Be Tied. Documents the lives of hard-working, spirited women during the depression era. Drawing upon oral history, archival footage, and a poetic layering of photographs, film clips, and dramatic re-enactment, the video covers such issues as womens poverty, labour activism, reproduction, feminism, and the rise of fascism in the 30s.

Fit To Be Tied documents the lives of hard-working, spirited women during the Depression era. Drawing upon oral history, archival footage, and a poetic layering of photographs, film clips, and dramatic re-enactment, the video covers such issues as womens poverty, labour activism, reproduction, feminism, and the rise of fascism in the 1930s.

Audio and transcript of Sara Diamond's interview with Barbara Stewart.

Audio and transcript of Sara Diamond's interview with May Martin.

Audio and transcript of Sara Diamond's interview with Emily Nutall.

A photo of women of H.R.E.U Local 28 on May Day c.1940s. Includes Marion Sarich and Emily Nuttall.

A photo of Hotel and Restaurant EmployeesUnion Local 28 group with international rep and Emily Nuttall marching with their banner on the streets of Vancouver. Late 1930s or 1940s

May Ansell [Martin] with Hotel and Restaurant Employess Union sisters on May Day 1946. She is holding a donation tin.

Unidentified chambermaids or waitresses. c.1930s. This was possibly taken in Nova Scotia where May Ansell [Martin] did organizing work.

A photo of unidentified chambermaids or waitresses. c.1930s. This was possibly taken in Nova Scotia where May Martin did organizing work. Courtesy of May Martin.

A photo of May Ansell [Martin], unknown male, and Emily Nuttall in front of the Alexandra Hotel.

A photo of May Ansell in the automobile that she and husband Ted Ansell drove from Windsor, Ontario, to Calgary, Alberta. They sold it in Calgary for cash and hitchhiked to Vancouver. April 1940.

A photo of an unidentified woman in “Miss Service Worker” sash. Courtesy of May Martin.

A photo of Barbara Stewart and Anita Sarich, in which Sarich is wearing a traditional Yugoslavian dress.

A photo of five women, including Emily Nuttall and an H.R.E.U. international rep at a H.R.E.U. banquet. Courtesy of May Martin.

A photo of people at a H.R.E.U. banquet. Courtesy of May Martin.

A photo of the H.R.E.U. reps and possibly others having dinner on February 20, 1947. Likely conferenU. dinner February 20, 1947. [From lower left-hand corner clockwise} Flo Fehr, Executive Member; John Fehr; Estelle Morrin; Phil Leniczek; May Ansell, Secretary; John Tannch; Marion Sarich, Shop Steward; Bill Myers; Babel Beck, Recording Secretary and Shop Steward; John Nuttall; President Emily Nuttall Watts. [names from The Labor Statesman].Courtesy of May Martin.

An image of Emily Nuttall Watts and May Martin signing of the Restaurant agreement, July 1946. Courtesy of May Martin.

An image shows a table of men celebrating at the Milwaukee Convention 1947. Courtesy of Edra McLeod.

Oral history summaries / guide to collection. Missing pages 21-24.

"Below the Stairs: The Domestic Servant" by Marilyn J. Barber.

Bibliography of Women's Labour History in British Columbia, 1930-1948 compiled by Sara Diamond. Includes general sources, the depression years, the war years, and the immediate post-war period.

Women's Labour History Project Guide to Collection (1978-1979) prepared by Sara Diamond including women's labour history project interviewees and descriptions.

An interview of Anne Marshall conducted by Sara Diamond. Marshall discusses her early life and move to B.C; her first introduction to trade unionism in 1924 when she met supporters of the Longshore strike at her waitressing job; protection and integration of immigrant workers; equal pensions for women; piecework; racism; wages and hours of work; policing the contracts.

An interview of Suzie Fawcett conducted by Sara Diamond. Fawcett discusses the difficulty of attaining training as a working class woman; waitress work at the Hotel Vancouver; working conditions in CNR owned hotels; the HREU’s attempt to organize the hotel in 1942; subsequent radicalization of staff; the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway and Transport and General Workers organizing CNR hotels; improvement in wages; Fawcett’s opposition to political unionism; raising two children while working full-time.

An interview of Anita Anderson conducted by Sara Diamond. Anita describes how she and her sister’s politics and radicalization were influenced by the Longshore strike; Yugoslavian cultural activities in Vancouver; working as a busgirl; organizing waitresses with the Hotel and Restaurant Employee Union; blacklisting; the Yukon in the 1940’s.

The Chocolate Shop Cafe [160 West Hastings Street - interior staff group]

Group portrait in front of 1180 Granville Street

A list with the header, Union Restaurants, with the names of Vancouver restaurants that are members of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 28 in 1947.

Three waitresses pose outside the Canadian National Railway (CNR)-owned Empress Hotel In Victoria, Canada.

Burrard Dry Dock pass for Mary Ansell, HREU representative. Original: printed card with signature.