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1956
Key People

Vel Phillips

Vel Phillips (1924–2018) was an attorney, politician, jurist, and civil-rights activist. She was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Law School. She was also the first Black woman to win a seat on Milwaukee’s City Council (1956), the first to become a judge in Wisconsin (1971), and the first to become Secretary of State of Wisconsin (1978).

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