Portal:Wisconsin/Selected biography/2

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Golda Meir was one of the founders of the State of Israel. She served as its Minister of Labor, Foreign Minister, and fourth Prime Minister.

Her family immigrated to Milwaukee from the Ukraine in 1906. The family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, Golda's father worked as a carpenter, and her mother ran a grocery store. When Golda was only eight years old, she had to oversee the store for a short time each morning while her mother bought supplies at the market.

Golda Meir attended the Fourth Street School (now Golda Meir School) across from the Schlitz Brewing Complex from 1906 to 1912. It was here that Golda undertook her first public works project, by organizing a fundraiser to pay for her classmates' textbooks. After forming the American Young Sisters Society, she rented a hall and scheduled a public meeting for the event. Despite not having known English upon entry, Golda graduated as valedictorian of her class.

When Golda was 14, she began attending North Division High School and took part-time jobs to pay expenses. Her mother suggested that she give up school for work and to marry. Golda rebelled and ran away to Denver, Colorado, where her older sister, Sheyna, was living. She stayed for about a year in a duplex at 1606 Julian Street. Golda attended North High School there and met Morris Meyerson, a sign painter, whom she would later marry.

In 1913, Golda returned to Milwaukee and re-enrolled at North Division, graduating in 1915. While there, she was an active member of the Zionist youth movement, Habonim (now Habonim Dror). She spoke at public meetings and often advocated for Socialist Zionism in her speeches. Often she hosted visitors from Palestine.

Upon her graduation from the Milwaukee State Normal School (a predecessor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), she taught in public schools. She formally joined the Labour Zionist Organization in 1915.

Golda and Morris married in 1917 and began planning to make aliyah (emigration to the Land of Israel, then a part of the Ottoman Empire). The couple, together with Golda's elder sister Sheyna, emigrated to Palestine in 1921.

On May 14, 1948 Golda Meir was one of twenty four people to sign the Declaration of the State of Israel. She became Prime Minister in 1969, and held the office before resigning in 1973. Golda later died of cancer at the age of 80 and was buried on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem.