Golda Meir House Museum Celebration

The Golda Meir House Museum on the Auraria Campus hosted a well-attended Golda Meir House Museum Celebration on January 10, 2022. The event honored the efforts of those who had the foresight to save the tiny Denver duplex once home to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, the Western world’s first female head of state and one of the most influential women in modern history. Featured speakers included; Governor Jared Polis, Colorado State Attorney General Phil Weiser, and Colorado State Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet.

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Golda Meir House Museum Events — *Golda Meir House Museum Celebration distinguished GMHM Celebration speaker Governor Jared Polis.*

*Left to right: Rian Kerrane (CU Denver sculpture professor who created the mezuzah), GMHM Honoree Dennis Gallagher, and Sister Magdalit Bolduc from the Archdiocese of Denver.*

Auraria Campus CEO Colleen Walker, distinguished GMHM Celebration speakers Mayor Wellington Webb and his wife Wilma, Auraria Campus Chief of Staff & Vice President of Strategy Judy Montero, and Golda Meir House Museum Executive Director Lena Fishman.

Golda Meir House Museum Celebration honorees gathered in St. Cajetan’s to have their stories recorded prior to the public celebration. Photo taken inside St. Cajetan’s. (Left to right), Josh Bogaen (Legislative Aide), Leora Joseph (General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Auraria Campus), Dafna Michelson Jenet (CO State Representative), Roz Duman (Honoree), Beth Sagstetter (Honoree), Colleen Walker (CEO, Auraria Campus), Dennis Gallagher (Honoree), Judy Montero (Chief of Staff & Vice President of Strategy, Auraria Campus), Tracey Huggins (Executive Director, Denver Urban Renewal Authority, Member of the Auraria Board of Directors), Alan Wanderer (Honoree).

AG Phil Weiser and Auraria Campus Rabbi Yisrael Ort — *Distinguished GMHM Celebration speaker CO Attorney General Phil Weiser and Auraria Campus Rabbi Yisrael Ort affix a new mezuzah to the Golda Meir House Museum during the Mezuzah Ceremony.*

Golda Meir House Museum Celebration Speakers

Governor Jared Polis
Mayor Wellington Webb & Representative Wilma Webb
CO State Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet
Attorney General Phil Weiser
Colleen Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Auraria Higher Education Center
Leora Joseph, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Auraria Higher Education Center
Lena Fishman, Executive Director, Golda Meir House Museum, Auraria Campus
Rabbi Emily Hyatt, Associate Rabbi, Temple Emanuel Denver

Golda Meir House Museum Celebration Honorees

Jean May

Jean May discovered the Golda Meir House in 1981, as she researched neighborhood homes to feature in a Sloan’s Lake Citizen’s Group cookbook. She created and led the “Committee to Save Golda’s Home, Inc.” May’s discovery was the initial catalyst for the collaborative efforts that stretched from Denver to Washington, D.C. to Israel, ultimately leading to the Golda Meir House’s survival. Jean May will be recognized posthumously.

Dennis Gallagher

Dennis Gallagher served the state of Colorado with a remarkable 45-year political career, including two terms in the Colorado House, five in the Colorado Senate, two on the Denver City Council, and was Denver City Auditor for twelve years. He has been a professor at Regis University since 1967 and is one of Denver’s premier historians, an author, and a faithful friend to Denver’s Jewish community.

Dr. Alan Wanderer

Dr. Alan Wanderer is currently practicing clinical immunology in Bozeman, MT, and is an Emeritus Clinical Professor of Allergy & Clinical Immunology at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Dr. Wanderer has published sixty peer-reviewed articles, received over twenty patents and, co-developed the Hematype® safety device for blood banks with Bill Sagstetter.

Beth and Bill Sagstetter

Beth and Bill Sagstetter’s byline has appeared on hundreds of magazine articles. They were a photographer/correspondent team for the Denver Post and authored many books. The Sagsetters produced four prime-time documentaries for television, including The Mystery of Huajatolla, which won an award at the Aspen Arts Film Festival. Sadly, Bill passed away in 2018. Bill Sagstetter will be recognized posthumously.

Patricia (Pat) Nell Scott Schroeder

Patricia (Pat) Nell Scott Schroeder was the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1973–97. During her tenure in the House, she became the Dean of Congressional Women, co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women′s Issues for ten years, and served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and was the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. In 1985, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

Roz Duman

Roz Duman served as the staff aide for Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder and Development Director for the Colorado Democratic Party. Her many accomplishments include founding the Coalition Against Global Genocide. She has served in various roles throughout her career, including volunteer coordinator for Senator Ken Salazar’s campaign and Director of Scheduling for Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

Special Thanks

Maxwell Rotbart

Providing Golda Meir House Tours during the celebration

Maxwell Rotbart is a Jewish historian, an educator at Denver Academy of Torah, and author of The State of Israel: Prime Ministers, a book for middle-schoolers. Rotbart received the Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellowship from The Tikvah Fund – a New York-based philanthropic foundation dedicated to supporting the Jewish people and the Jewish state and is a member of the American Historical Association. He earned his undergraduate degree (cum laude) in history and secondary education from MSU Denver and is currently a graduate student at the University of Nebraska. A fifth-generation Colorado native, his great-great-grandfather, Aaron Richtol, once resided in the home that now serves as the conference center at the Golda Meir House Museum.