Vel Phillips achieved many historic firsts. She was the first Black person and the first woman elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin. She was the first woman and first African American to serve on the Milwaukee Common Council. She was the first Black person and the first woman to serve as a jurist in Wisconsin—and the list goes on.
But she was much more than her listed accomplishments could ever show. A new book for young readers, Valiant Vel, explores the person behind the achievements, the experiences that shaped her and what drove her fight for fair housing in Milwaukee.
"I wanted to write a book about who [Vel Phillips] was. You can read newspaper clippings and learn all about what she did. But what drove her," says author Jerrianne Hayslett.
The book explores some of the events early in Phillips' life that shaped the activist she became, including a speech she gave in high school that propelled her to college at Howard University.
Vel and her husband Dale, both went to the University of Wisconsin Law School, later opening the state's first African-American law office in Milwaukee. Her son Michael Phillips says his mother was compelled to run for the Milwaukee Common Council, and legally changed her name from "Velvalea" to "Vel" as a way of trying to hide the fact she was a woman.
"One of the things my mother has said—and I'll never forget her saying—was that it was tougher for her to be a woman in politics than it was to be Black," Michael says. "And so, they hid the fact that she was a woman. [They] didn't put her picture on any of her campaign literature, and she changed her name legally to Vel."
The book looks at Vel Phillips' time on the Milwaukee Common Council, her fight for fair housing, and her rise to becoming the first woman and first Black person to win a statewide election in Wisconsin. Now, as the nation grapples with another divisive moment in its history, her son Michael believes we can learn from his mother's work and passion.
"I believe deeply, that we can forestall some of the very worst of it by working together and connecting with folks. That's what we have to do," says Michael Phillips.
There will be an event for Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Centennial Hall in the Milwaukee Public Library.
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