Dirty Laundry: True Tales of Women Workers at the
Tampa Bay Hotel
Bertha maser
Starting as a maid at the Planter’s Hotel in St. Louis, Bertha Maser climbed the ranks to become the housekeeper of two seasonal resorts, the Tampa Bay Hotel and Rhode Island’s Hotel Mathewson. As the Tampa Bay Hotel’s housekeeper between 1905 and 1908, Maser reported directly to the manager and even ran the hotel in his absence. By remaining single, Maser could relocate to accept increasingly prestigious positions, including the Hotel Seminole and the Hotel Astor. In 1942, she became one of the country’s few female hotel managers.
Atlantic Coastline Railroad Map 1929, Touchton Map Library, Tampa Bay History Center