The historic sculpture unveiling of civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips will take place on Saturday, July 27, at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
The sculpture of Vel Phillips will be the first outdoor sculpture of an African American woman on any U.S. state capitol grounds. “This sculpture not only honors my mother’s life and work but also stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration for future generations,” said Michael Phillips, son of Vel Phillips, in a statement.
Led by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, the sculpture unveiling marks the culmination of the Vel Phillips Legacy Initiative Task Force’s work in partnership with the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration in response to the 2020 protests at the State Capitol. The initiative to erect a statue of Philips began with a letter written by BGCDC CEO Michael Johnson to former Wisconsin State Sen. Fred Risser and the former chairman of the State Capitol Executive Residence Board. Johnson pointed out that there were no prominent pieces of art that reflected the contributions of African Americans in and around the State Capitol building.
According to Monument Lab’s National Monument Audit, less than 1% of a sample of nearly 50,000 public monuments around the U.S. represent people of color. Further, merely 6% of these monuments portray women from history.
In 1951, Velvalea “Vel” Hortense Rodgers Phillips became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, the first Black woman elected to the Democratic National Committee in 1958, and in 1978, Philips became the first woman and the first Black person to be elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin: the secretary of state.
Philips is also credited with being the first woman and first Black person on the Milwaukee Common Council. In 1971, she became the first female judge in Milwaukee County and the state’s first Black judge.
The unveiling event is scheduled for 5 p.m. at S. Hamilton Street outside the Wisconsin State Capitol and will include addresses from Gov. Tony Evers, Michael Phillips, Michael Johnson, the State Executive Board Chair and other distinguished guests
