found: NUCMC data from Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (Washington, D.C.) for Her Interview, 1968 Feb. 12(Mrs. Vel Phillips, 1924-; attorney, alderman, Milwaukee Common Council)
found: Wikipedia, viewed April 19, 2018(Vel Phillips; Velvalea Rodgers "Vel" Phillips (February 18, 1923-April 17, 2018) was an American attorney who served as a local official and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as Secretary of State of Wisconsin, often as the first woman and/or African-American in her position)
found: Wisconsin State Journal online obituary, viewed April 19, 2018(Vel Phillips, 94; Civil rights activist, former Secretary of State Vel Phillips dies; Milwaukee native and UW Law School graduate Vel Phillips, who broke racial barriers by becoming the first African-American judge in Milwaukee and the first African-American secretary of state of Wisconsin; Phillips died Tuesday night [April 17]; Born Velvalea Rodgers in Milwaukee in 1924, Phillips went to Howard University for her bachelor's degree, then to UW-Madison Law School, where she became the first African-American woman to graduate from the school, in 1951; Phillips ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Milwaukee School Board in 1953 before being elected in 1956 to the City Council, where she fought against housing discrimination in the city. She took part in civil rights protests; She was appointed circuit judge in Milwaukee County in 1971, the first woman judge in the county and the first African-American judge in the state; In 1978, she was elected Wisconsin's secretary of state, the first black woman in that office. She served for four years; She also was the first African-American to be elected a member of the Democratic National Committee)
found: Valiant Vel, 2025:CIP t.p. (Vel Phillips) galley (maiden name: Velvalea Rodgers; she married Warren Dale Phillips in 1947)
