Sculpture honoring trailblazer Vel Phillips ’51 unveiled on Capitol grounds.
A new sculpture honoring Vel Phillips ’51, a trailblazer for civil rights in Wisconsin, was unveiled in July in Madison. This is the first statue of a Black leader or any person of color featured on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Formed in 2020, the Vel Phillips Task Force raised $308,000 for the statue from nearly 250 donors, including the Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee Brewers Community Foundation and the State Bar of Wisconsin. The statue was constructed by artist Radcliffe Bailey, who died last year.
Nearly a thousand people gathered to listen to speakers share their memories of Phillips and honor her dedication to her community and her state during the public ceremony.
Phillips was the first African American woman to graduate from University of Wisconsin Law School. In 1956, she became the first woman and first African American on the Milwaukee Common Council. Phillips went on to become the first African American woman to be a judge in Wisconsin and later, made history as the first African American woman elected statewide when she was voted in as secretary of state.
Phillips died in 2018.
Photos by Kassandra Tuten and John Schroeder. Historical photo courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives.
