Women Who Built the Berkeley Campus: a Virtual Tour

Nearby on the hill and near the Greek Theater, we come to Stern Hall, university housing for women endowed by Rosalie Meyer Stern. Mrs Stern is described as a civic and social leader of San Francisco, but that description only hints at the full breath of her involvements. Her extensive variety of activities included (in part) the president of the San Francisco Playground Commission, founder of the San Francisco Opera Association and the San Francisco Symphony Association, board positions on the Associated Jewish Charities, Community Chest, War Relief Fund, and National Recreation Association. Her further dedication to San Francisco and to her husband was displayed in 1931when Mrs. Stern purchased a 30 acre tract of land slated for urban development and gave it to the city to be used as a memorial to her late husband. She then formed a committee to underwrite the free summer concerts that continue to be held in Sigmund Stern Grove.

Rosalie Meyer was born in Los Angeles in 1869. Her mother was an Englishwoman who had traveled to California by way of the Horn; her father was from Strasbourg, France. Rosalie was 12 years old when she and her seven siblings relocated to San Francisco where her father accepted a position at the London, Paris and American Bank. In 1892, she married Sigmund Stern, a nephew of Levi Strauss who had been brought into the family business. Sigmund died in 1928 after a successful business career and a life full of  of civic and philanthropic participation.

After her husband’s death, Rosalie Stern became even more active in civic activities. In 1929, she combined her interest in public recreation in San Francisco with support for the Berkeley campus and contributed $1000 to the Economics department for a survey of public recreation. She added $3000 in 1933 to support a curriculum for the training of recreation workers, and in 1935 gave $1000 for an emergency loan fund for men. In 1938, learning through her friendship with Professor Jessica Peixotto of the need of housing for students at Berkeley, Mrs. Stern contributed $250,000 for the building of the first university-owned residence hall for women. She stipulated that the building be named in honor of her husband, Sigmund Stern, a graduate of the University of California in 1879. In 1942, Stern Hall was opened for 137 women students. 

Rosalie Stern passed away in 1956, but her involvement in community affairs and her support of the University continues undiminished through the Haas and Goldman family lines.