To introduce and familiarize you with our Board Members, Midge Gill, the LWV-Whitewater Area Board Secretary, was interviewed by e-mail and asked, Why am I a member of the LWV-Whitewater Area?

Midge was raised on a farm near Belleville, Wisconsin. She loved being near the animals, especially the barn cats. Midge went to a one-room school for seven years. She loved it, especially after the building was remodeled and the outdoor privy was put indoors. In college, Midge majored in Biology with an emphasis on Zoology at UW-Platteville. She wanted to be a veterinarian and worked in the Veterinary Science Lab for a year in Madison. Her leaning toward science led Midge to intern at Madison General Hospital in Medical Technology. She worked in that field for 33 years, mostly at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.

Midge volunteers for the Homeless Coalition of Fort Atkinson and is currently co-president of that organization. She also volunteers at the Hoard Museum as a greeter and archivist. Midge is a Friend of Rose Lake State Natural Area in Fort Atkinson and a Friend of the Dwight Foster Library, where she organizes videos from I-O and P-Z. Midge is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Fort Atkinson and volunteers in many ways there.

In answer to the question, “Why am I a member of the LWV-Whitewater Area?” Midge read about the women’s suffrage movement while working in the archives at the museum. She was inspired by what the women went through. Midge attended a board meeting and found Whitewater’s League to be very well organized. The League has programs that fit her interests, not just an emphasis on voting. Midge is especially interested in housing, the environment, gun control, women’s rights, and voting rights in general. She has been the League’s Secretary since 2019.

Submitted by Kathy Brimmer, Membership Chair