City of Milwaukee - File #: 180350

• File #: 180350
• Version: 1
• Type: Motion
• Status: Passed
• File created: 5/30/2018
• In control: COMMON COUNCIL
• Final action: 7/10/2018
• Title: Substitute motion naming the Milwaukee Common Council Ante Chamber as the Vel R. Phillips Memorial Ante Chamber.
• Sponsors: COMMON COUNCIL
• Indexes: CITY HALL

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
7/10/2018	1	COMMON COUNCIL	APPROVED; Minutes note: The entire Common Council was added as sponsor on this file.	Pass	14:0
6/27/2018	1	PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE	RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL; Minutes note: Alds. Johnson and Coggs All Committee members were added as co-sponsors.	Pass	5:0
5/30/2018	0	COMMON COUNCIL	ASSIGNED TO

Number
180350
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference

Sponsor
COMMON COUNCIL
Title
Substitute motion naming the Milwaukee Common Council Ante Chamber as the Vel R. Phillips Memorial Ante Chamber.
Analysis
This motion names the Milwaukee Common Council Ante Chamber as the Vel R. Phillips Memorial Ante Chamber.
Body
Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was a spirited and distinguished political leader and fighter who served the community with unparalleled distinction and excellence; and

Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was born on February 18, 1924 on the South Side of Milwaukee, attended Howard University for her undergraduate degree and then went to the University of Wisconsin Law School, from which she was the first African-American woman to graduate; and

Whereas, In 1956, Vel R. Phillips became the first woman and the first African-American to be elected as a member of the Milwaukee Common Council, on which she served until 1971, and was an advocate for the African-American community and women, and instrumental in outlawing housing discrimination; and

Whereas, Continuing throughout her career to exhibit a fearless, pioneering spirit, Vel R. Phillips was also appointed a judge in Milwaukee County Children’s Court in 1971, becoming the first female judge in Milwaukee and the first African-American judge in Wisconsin, and was elected as Wisconsin’s first non-white Secretary of State in 1978; and

Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was always a leader in the African-American community and an advocate for women throughout Wisconsin, playing an active role in the NAACP and the civil rights movement, and was also the highest-ranking woman to win a state office in Wisconsin in the 20th century and the first African-American to be elected as a member of a political party’s national committee when she was elected to the Democratic National Committee; and

Whereas, Through her foundation, Vel R. Phillips continued her work to better her community, with a mission “to serve as an economic hand o...