Dream Big Dreams with the legendary Vel Phillips
Vel Phillips was the first woman and first African American on Milwaukee’s Common Council and the first woman and first African American elected to a Wisconsin statewide office (Secretary of State). Phillips was also the first African American elected to the Democratic National Committee. Wisconsin Public Television and Milwaukee Public Television have collaborated to create an all new documentary entitled Vel Phillips: Dream Big Dreams. The television premiere will be on February 16th, but you can watch the whole documentary right now on Wisconsin Public Television's website.
We also have resources on Vel Phillips at the library. Central Library’s Humanities Desk has a subject in their vertical file collection titled African Americans-Wisconsin-Milwaukee-Firsts that includes brief citations to many African American “firsts” in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. Also located at the Humanities Desk is one of the best short histories of the African American community in Milwaukee through 1985. It’s found in the Central Business District Historic Resources Survey. The Humanities Department also has several historic photographs of Vel Phillips, some of which were used in the Dream Big Dreams documentary.