A Milwaukee Woman's Life on the Left : The Autobiography of Meta Berger

"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 U.S. 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 woman 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 U.S. 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."--BOOK JACKET. In the early 1900s a Milwaukee wife, mother, and schoolteacher traded in her apron and chalk for the turbulent world of political activism. This autobiography tells the story of transformation in the words of the woman who lived it, Meta Schlichting Berger (1873-1944). More than one woman's story, it is a tale that reveals the changes facing a nation during momentous times. Wife, mother, schoolteacher, and politician, Meta Schlichting Berger became an activist at a time when women's role in public life -- indeed, evne 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. The autobiography of Meta Berger describes her transformation from a young housewife to an outspoken advocate for socialism, public education, women's rights, and peace. Meta writes of her husband's plight and her own during World War I, when his antiwar activism led to exclusion from Congress.