A statue of Wisconsin’s first Black secretary of state will be erected on the Capitol grounds.
A legislative subcommittee gave its unanimous approval to the project honoring Vel Phillips Tuesday (July 13th).
New York-based artist Radcliffe Bailey would be commissioned to complete the work that would be located outside the Capitol building’s south entrance.
The next step is for the State Capitol and Executive Residence Board to take up the recommendation at a meeting in the fall.
Phillips was an attorney, politician, jurist, and civil rights activist.
She served as Wisconsin Secretary of State from 1979 to 1983.
The Milwaukee Democrat died in 2018 at the age of 94.