When it comes to influential women in Milwaukee's history, its hard to not mention Meta Schlichting Berger. Born in 1865, Berger was the first female to hold a position on the Milwaukee School Board, helped put hot lunches and nurses in Milwaukee schools and stood up for the rights of teachers.
But while visiting Forest Home Cemetery on a Girl Scout tour two years ago, troop 8617 from Cudahy noticed something peculiar; after her passing in 1944, no one had ever given her a headstone near her resting place.
"The girls were upset that no one had given Meta a headstone so they asked, 'Well, can we give her one?' So that's where it all began," explains troop leader, Becky Osse, who today, two years after that initial tour and countless fundraisers later, is back at Forest Home Cemetery with troop 8617 and is unveiling the brand new headstone for this woman in history.
"are making their own history."
Listen to the full story on Troop 8617 below:
Who was Meta Schlichting Berger? You can learn more about this influential woman in Milwaukee's history here.
To take a tour of Forest Home Cemetery, you can visit them online at www.foresthomepreservation.org/tours.
For more on Girl Scouts of America click here.