Vel Phillips Sculpture Unveiled at State Capitol

A historic sculpture of Vel Phillips, a pioneering civil rights leader, was unveiled at the Wisconsin State Capitol, making it the first outdoor monument of an African American woman at any state capitol in the U.S. This $700,000 project, driven by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, was inspired by the 2020 protests after George Floyd's death and aimed to address the lack of representation of people of color in public monuments. Vel Phillips was a trailblazer, being the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School, serve on the Milwaukee Common Council, become a judge, and hold statewide office as Wisconsin's Secretary of State. Nearly a thousand attendees, including Gov. Tony Evers and Phillips's son, Michael Phillips, celebrated the unveiling, which was the last work of the late artist Radcliffe Bailey. The statue stands as a beacon of hope and a reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality.