Uw-Madison officials recently announced the renaming of a dormitory after Vel Phillips, a civil rights pioneer. It will be the second campus building named after a person of color and one of only a handful honoring women. The newly dubbed Phillips Hall formerly Friedrick Hall, is a small residence hall on the west side of campus along Lake Mendora. Phillips was the first Black woman to graduate from the UW-Madison Law School in 1951. She was the first female judge in Milwaukee County and the first Black judge in Wisconsin. In 1978, she became the first Black person to hold statewide office when she became secretary of state. Phillips is pictured above with Goddaughter Millie Coby. (Photo by Robert A. Bell)
