A Milwaukee Woman’s Life on the Left

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The Autobiography of Meta Berger

Edited by Kimberly Swanson
Foreword by Genevieve G. McBride

Groundbreaker, activist, radical—Meta Berger challenged societal and political norms and left a lasting impact on the nation during a time of turbulence and momentous change.

224 pages, 6 x 9, 24 color and b&w photos
Paperback: $15.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-322-0
Ebook: $12.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-778-5
Publication Date: 10/31/2000

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Front cover of A Milwaukee Woman’s Life on the Left

Description

Wife, mother, schoolteacher, and politician, Meta Schlichting Berger became an activist at a time when women’s role in public life—indeed, even their right to vote—was hotly contested. Telling her story in her own words, Meta Berger reveals her transformation from a traditional wife and mother to an activist who held elective office for thirty years.

In 1897, when she married Victor Berger, later the first Socialist elected to the US Congress, Meta had no idea she was embarking on a path to political campaigns in her own right and service on the Milwaukee School Board and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. During her career she took active roles in the peace and women’s suffrage movements while serving as confidant and advisor to her congressman husband. When Victor faced twenty years in prison and denial of his congressional seat because of his opposition to World War I, Meta helped him fight to his eventual vindication in the US Supreme Court. After Victor's death in 1929, Meta became far more radicalized than her husband ever was and became embroiled in controversial left-wing politics during the turbulent 1930s.

Meta Berger's story is more than that of one woman; rather, it is a tale that reveals the changes that faced a nation during momentous times.