Some neighborhoods are born, and others are made. Hillside belongs in the second category. The surrounding landscape took more than a century to evolve, but Hillside came to life in a single burst of activity after World War II. The Milwaukee Housing Authority "made" the neighborhood in an effort to alleviate blight and to relieve a critical shortage of housing, but Hillside evolved to become the city's pioneer foray into the field of public housing for low-income residents. It was here that Goldie Mabowehz, later Golda Meir, future prime minister of Israel, went to the school now named in her honor.