'Valiant Vel' recounts how courageous Vel Phillips persisted in advocating fair housing

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Walking with a child downtown to a game or a show or the 3rd St. Market Hall, you may pass the Vel R. Phillips Plaza at North Fourth Street and West Wisconsin Avenue and be asked, Who was Vel Phillips?

A new biography for young readers can help you answer that question.

"Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality" (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) recounts the life of a Milwaukee civil rights activist and public servant who was the first woman and first Black person on the Milwaukee Common Council, first female judge in Milwaukee County and first Black woman elected to statewide public office in Wisconsin.

Writer Jerrianne Hayslett's biography is aimed at readers 11 and older. It has some of the didactic tone and features suitable for classroom use, but her bio also would serve as a good introduction to Phillips for curious adults. There's plenty of detail here. Also, Hayslett directly interviewed such important figures in Phillips' story as Prentice McKinney, Gwen Moore and Margaret Rozga.

Hayslett begins with a revealing story drawn from an unpublished memoir by Phillips (1924-2018). As one of the few Black students at North Division High School in 1939, Phillips wanted to participate in the serious oratory portion of a speech contest. But the white forensics teacher rejected that, trying to push Phillips into humorous narrative as "something that fits your people." Controversy and a petition followed. Delivering a serious oration she wrote herself, Phillips ultimately won the contest.

"Valiant Vel" concentrates on two overlapping stories: Phillips' long struggle to get the Milwaukee Common Council to pass a fair housing ordinance, and the 200 nights of open housing marches in Milwaukee in 1967-'68, in which she frequently participated.

It was not inevitable that those efforts would succeed. Hayslett details the persistence and courage that Phillips displayed in continuing to press her case. "Research" was Phillips' superpower, Hayslett declares, a point that teachers using this book in the classroom will no doubt underline.

Phillips' husband Dale emerges here as a quiet supporting hero. The money he secretly saved to buy her a mink coat became the funds she spent to win her first aldermanic election. He worried about her safety, too, absenting himself from home one night when the open housing marches began, knowing that she would not leave their children home alone. Hayslett has dedicated the book to him.

"Valiant Vel" is lavishly illustrated in two ways: the warm artwork of Milwaukee artist Aaron Boyd, and a large selection of historical photos.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2025/02/12/valiant-vel-phillips-fair-housing/78284384007/ (syndicated to Yahoo! Life and other outlets)

Shepherd Express

Vel Phillips' Fight for Civil Rights

The new book for middle-school kids chronicles the achievements of a civil rights leader who opened many doors for Black Milwaukeeans.

by David Luhrssen

Feb. 12, 2025

Vel Phillips' 1956 election to Milwaukee's common council wasn't the first of many firsts for the Black activist. In Valiant Vel, the new illustrated biography for children ages 11-14, Phillips' first breakthrough came as a junior at North Division High School. She wanted to participate in a speech contest and the speech needed advanced approval from her forensics teacher. Phillips wanted to practice oratory, but the teacher insisted she stick to comedy. Against the advice of her father and some Black classmates, Phillips persisted, delivering an address on the discrimination endured by people of color in housing, jobs and education.

According to Valiant Vel's author, Jerrianne Hayslett, Phillips' 1939 high school victory "formed a foundation" for her "perseverance and hope in the years to come." That school speech inaugurated a lifelong campaign to open doors, yanking them open, if necessary, for Blacks in Milwaukee.

Phillips confronted many problems as the first Black and the first woman with a seat on Milwaukee's common council, starting with locating the nearest restroom. For an office, she was given a closet. Phillips was excluded from the informal conversations from which political decisions are shaped. She was openly snubbed. "Rather than let this racism and sexism distract her, Vel focused on her constituents and their concerns" over potholes, crime and trash pickup. Civil rights inevitably entered her agenda.

Attracting attention beyond Milwaukee, Phillips became the first Black member of the Democratic National Committee and campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1960. But the events for which she is most remembered occurred later in the '60s when she walked with Father James Groppi and the NAACP Youth Council on marches for housing rights. Their much-publicized campaign to desegregate Milwaukee were met with angry, rock throwing white mobs. Phillips persevered.

Phillips' struggle led to the passage of Milwaukee's fair housing ordinance, but her career didn't end there. She became Milwaukee County's first Black judge and Wisconsin's first [Black] secretary of state. She died at age 95 in 2018. Along with chronicling her achievements, Valiant Vel is a look back at the North Side neighborhood where she grew up, Bronzeville, the historic district undergoing renovation in recent years.

Shepherd Express: https://shepherdexpress.com/culture/milwaukee-history/vel-phillips-fight-for-civil-rights/

WUWM 89.7FM

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.

https://www.wuwm.com/race-ethnicity/2025-02-10/valiant-vel-explores-the-trailblazing-life-of-civil-rights-leader-vel-phillips

Wisconsin Public Radio

A new children's book celebrates legacy of late Wisconsin civil rights leader Vel Phillips

The author met Vel Phillips on accident — and the illustrator was hand-picked by Phillips' son

By Avery Lea Rogers

February 25, 2025

When she first moved to Wisconsin in the early 2000s, writer Jerrianne Hayslett unknowingly befriended civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips at a community meeting.

"She spent the whole time asking questions about me ... Afterward, I realized I really didn't know who I had been talking to," Hayslett told WPR's "Wisconsin Today." "I looked her up [on the internet] and found out what an astounding person she was."

As a Black woman, Phillips achieved many state and nationwide firsts during her career as a lawmaker in Wisconsin. Perhaps most notably in 1978, Phillips won her race for Wisconsin's secretary of state — making her the first Black person in the U.S. ever elected to a statewide office.

After they met, Hayslett searched for a book about Phillips so she could learn more about her life, but to no avail.

"After years [of looking] I thought, 'Maybe I should just write one myself,'" Hayslett said.

The birthday book

This year, on what would have been Phillips' 102nd birthday, Wisconsin Historical Society Press published Hayslett's children's book "Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality," illustrated by Wisconsin children's book creator Aaron Boyd.

Phillips' son, Michael Phillips, personally asked Boyd to illustrate the book after seeing his work.

"I don't know if Michael had even finished asking me if I'd be willing to illustrate the book," Boyd told "Wisconsin Today." "I just said, 'Yes.'"

"Vel Phillips is such a hero. She didn't just tackle issues that are issues in Milwaukee or Wisconsin, but the United States as a whole," he continued. "To be a part of a project in a team like that was a no-brainer for me."

To help guide Hayslett's writing, Michael Phillips provided Hayslett some notes from an unpublished autobiography Vel Phillips was working on before her death in 2018.

"It's a book for all ages," Hayslett said.

History we can touch

For Boyd to illustrate non-fictional people, he said he puts himself in their shoes and taps into his own lived experiences to help convey emotions on the page.

Boyd said one of the most memorable scenes he illustrated is from Vel Phillips' autobiography notes: At 16, after being confronted with racism by one of her teachers, she was called to the principal's office, filled with nervous anxiety because she didn't know why — or if — she was in trouble.

"I think she was only one of a few African American students at the school at the time, and so it really was her alone, going into this office," Boyd said. "When I [drew] that, I kept that feeling inside of myself while I was illustrating — that anxiety, but also that knowing that you're right."

Boyd says he enjoys working on stories about historical figures like Vel Phillips — and previously, John Lewis — because he's "reaching for history that we can touch. Vel Phillips is not ancient history. Her son is still out there doing the work. The things that [Vel] helped build are still here."

Boyd and Hayslett both hope Vel Phillips' story shows children they can accomplish their goals — even if they're the first to do so.

"This story goes across political lines, gender and race," Boyd said. "Getting children involved and making them see that they have a stake in their own future is very important for us now and tomorrow."

https://www.wpr.org/culture/childrens-wisconsin-civil-rights-leader-vel-phillips-hayslett-boyd

Reader Feedback

Jennifer Morales, former Milwaukee School Board member

I just finished reading Valiant Vel and want to congratulate you on researching and writing this gift to future generations. Vel was a towering figure in my Milwaukee political life and a constant booster of mine. I loved her so much. Amidst the many research-based accomplishments you pulled off in the book, what most moved me is how beautifully you captured her indomitable, joyful ferocity.

Thank you a million times for this book.

Jennifer Morales,

Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors, 2001-2009

Candidate for Wisconsin State Senate, 2004

Candidate for Milwaukee Common Council, 2012

Association of American University Women-Milwaukee Branch member

I stayed up last night and read, then reread VALIANT VEL.

What an amazing book!

What a great place to start your book - the speech from a petite junior in high school.
I loved that you had the Afterword from Michael Phillips. (That was just so affirming to all the research, detail, and sensitivity you put into this book.)
The description of Mayor Maier was perfect. "lopsided"
So interesting how Father Groppi and Vel Phillips worked together.
So touching that she talked with Martin Luther King Jr. just a day before he was assassinated. (How Father Groppi and the Commando group kept the rioting to a minimum.)
Vel Phillips - you captured her in such a way that those of us that didn't know her can say, "we met her through your book."

Thank you Jerrianne for sharing your work.

Amazon Review

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and enjoyable for young readers.

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2025

Full disclosure, I am related to the author. But objectively as possible, I really enjoyed this book and learning about Vel Phillips. What impressed me the most was they way her biography, which deals a lot with municipal public servitude, was delivered in an easy and compelling way that young readers could understand and enjoy. My 8 year-old daughter enjoyed and was engaged in the book. She also really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations and historical photographs. Also, I think it is a really important part of Milwaukee's history and civil rights movement to know about. I'm glad it's memorialized in this book.

Chapen Hayslett