[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING VEL PHILLIPS

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam President, today I wish to honor Vel Phillips, who 
was born Velvalea Hortense Rodgers in 1923 in Milwaukee and passed away 
on April 17, 2018, at the age of 95. Vel was a civil rights leader and 
a pioneer in social justice and fair housing who left an indelible mark 
on the State of Wisconsin.
  Vel earned a national oratory scholarship from the Black Elks to 
attend Howard University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 
1946. She returned to her home State of Wisconsin to attend the 
University of Wisconsin--Madison Law School, becoming the first Black 
woman to graduate from the school, just one in a long series of 
significant firsts for Vel.
  Following law school, Vel made it her life's work to advocate for 
social justice and equal rights. She became actively involved in the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, working for 
political, social, educational, and economic equality for people of 
color.
  Vel was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 1956, not only as 
the first African American, but also as the first woman. Her election 
sent shockwaves through the all-White, all-male council. Rather than 
welcoming her to her new position, her colleagues refused to share an 
office with her and suggested she join the aldermen's wives club 
instead of the council. A firm believer in polite persistence, Vel took 
her seat quietly but proudly. She quickly went on to become an advocate 
not only for the people in her district, but for every African American 
in the city. She later said, ``No matter where they lived, I was their 
alderman and they called me.''
  Vel would go on to accomplish many more firsts. In 1971, she became 
the first woman judge in Milwaukee County, as well as the first 
African-American judge in the State of Wisconsin. In 1978, she made 
history again as the first woman and minority elected secretary of 
State in Wisconsin.
  In spite of all these significant firsts, Vel Phillips is perhaps 
best known for initiating the long but ultimately successful fight to 
outlaw housing discrimination in Milwaukee. Until the late 1960s, 
landlords freely refused to sell or rent property to people of color. 
Even if homeowners wanted to sell property to people of color, banks 
routinely rejected their loan applications. As a result, African 
Americans lived almost exclusively in one run-down neighborhood on 
Milwaukee's near north side.
  In 1962, Vel introduced the city's first ordinance to prohibit 
discrimination in housing. The council promptly rejected it by a vote 
of 18 to 1. She tried three additional times over the next 6 years with 
the same result. The Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council and The Rev. James 
Groppi took up her cause in 1967 and organized 200 consecutive nights 
of protests in support of her ordinance. When her colleagues adopted a 
watered-down version of an open housing ordinance in an attempt to make 
the protests stop, Vel told them, ``Thanks for nothing. You are very 
much too late and very much too little.''
  The council finally passed a strong open housing ordinance in 1968, 
after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
spurred Congress to pass the national Fair Housing Act.
  Following her retirement from public office, Vel remained involved in 
important causes, speaking up when she saw injustice, protesting when 
necessary, and educating students from all over the world.
  Public servant, trailblazer, activist, icon, and pioneer are all 
words that only begin to describe Vel Phillips' contributions to the 
fight for equality in Wisconsin. While history will forever remember 
her for her string of momentous firsts, her greatest legacy will be the 
many women who run for elective office or the countless African 
Americans who live throughout the city thanks to the seemingly 
insurmountable barriers she shattered.

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