APPLETON, Wis. — We had a special trio of voices join the show this week with the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
It was all to promote a new book, Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality, which tells the story of fair housing advocate and civic leader Vel Phillips.
- Vel Phillips led a courageous six-year campaign to confront Milwaukee’s decades-long practice of housing discrimination, culminating in the passage of a citywide fair housing ordinance in 1968.
- She was the first Black woman on the Milwaukee Common Council and was Wisconsin’s first Black judge.
- She was the first Black woman to win statewide office after being elected secretary of state of Wisconsin.
We welcomed author Jerrianne Hayslett, an award-winning journalist, a writer, and a trial-court information officer. She left her native state of Virginia at age nineteen and lived overseas and in several states before settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Valiant Vel is her first book for young readers.
We also heard from illustrator Aaron Boyd, who knew by age six that he wanted to illustrate children’s books. He has illustrated dozens of books, including The Story of Civil Rights Hero John Lewis and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press title Brownie the War Dog. Aaron lives with his family in Milwaukee.
Vel’s son, Michael Phillips, who assisted in helping bring his mother’s story to the pages of Valiant Vel, also joined to share how this book came to be and tell stories about his mom and dad.
Thank you to the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Historical Society Press for coordinating this month’s segment.
