• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / News / Arts and Recreation / Sixth annual Bronzeville Week celebrates Vel R. Phillips with street dedication

Sixth annual Bronzeville Week celebrates Vel R. Phillips with street dedication

August 10, 2018 by Ryeshia Farmer 1 Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Michael Phillips speaks about his mother, Vel R. Phillips, at a ceremony dedicating a section of Fourth Street in her honor. (Photo by Ryeshia Farmer)

 

Vel R. Phillips once said to Ald. Milele Coggs, “When I get my street, I want it to run from Capitol all the way down to St. Paul!”

Phillips’ wish was granted when Fourth Street was renamed Vel R. Phillips Avenue at a ceremony on Tuesday. The dedication was part of the sixth annual Bronzeville Week, scheduled between Aug. 4 and 11.

“We decided to do this during Bronzeville Week, because Bronzeville is an iconic place in the city of Milwaukee for African-American arts, culture and commerce,” Coggs said.

Phillips was the first black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School and to serve on Milwaukee’s Common Council. She was Milwaukee County’s first female judge and the first black person to be elected to a statewide executive office.

Phillips was instrumental in the 1967-68 Milwaukee fair housing marches, introducing four open housing bills as an alderwoman and marching alongside NAACP Youth Council members, who demonstrated for 200 days.

According to Coggs, Phillips believed that Milwaukee had done Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a disservice in not allowing the street named for him to extend to St. Paul Avenue. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive parallels parts of Interstate 43 and lies between Keefe Avenue and Pleasant Street.

Mayor Tom Barrett, Phillips’ son, Michael Phillips, and the first Vel R. Phillips Trailblazer award recipient, Jasmine Johnson, spoke at the ceremony.

The Vel R. Phillips Trailblazer award was established to commend people who embody Phillips’ spirit and work ethic in social justice. The Milwaukee Common Council voted unanimously to establish the award on April 17, the day Phillips died.

Johnson, entrepreneur and former chair of the NAACP Milwaukee Young Adult Committee, said, “I challenge every one of you to ask yourselves daily… ‘Are you doing what you’re supposed to do, and are you doing your part?’” Johnson noted that Phillips asked her this question at their every encounter.

Following the presentations, attendees were entertained by a live band and given an opportunity to take trolley rides on the renamed Vel R. Phillips Avenue.

According to Coggs, Phillips wanted Fourth Street to be named after her because of its significance in her life. Phillips attended Historic Garfield School, which is now the Historic Garfield Apartment building, 2215 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. Also, she belonged to and was married at St. Mark AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, now at 1616 W. Atkinson Ave., when it was located on Fourth Street.

The Griot Apartments and America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM), 2233 and 2234 N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue, were recently constructed on the street. Coggs said it was “only fitting” that Phillips be honored during the week celebrating developments in Bronzeville.

Vel R. Phillips Avenue replaces Fourth Street, where the reopening America’s Black Holocaust Museum and new Griot Apartments are located. (Photo by Ryeshia Farmer)

 

Bronzeville Week is co-sponsored by the City of Milwaukee, Bader Foundation, Historic King Drive BID, Milwaukee Bucks and VISIT Milwaukee, among others.

The annual Arts and Cultural Festival and HaRUNbee 5k Walk/Run were held last weekend, along with the Live on King Drive family-friendly, musical event.

The Bronzeville Business Breakfast highlighted longtime businesses in the area, according to Lilo Allen, whose pop-up shop, Papyrus and Charms, is on the corner of Vel R. Phillips Avenue and North Avenue.

A variety of Bronzeville Week events allowed people to make art while enjoying food and beverages. Festivities also included an art walk and a black food truck festival.

The week also featured a panel discussion about Milwaukee’s national influence, which was hosted by ABHM.

Throughout the week, the MLK Heritage Health Center, 2555 N. King Drive, offered health screenings for HIV, hepatitis C, high blood pressure and glucose, in addition to providing immunizations.

Bronzeville encompasses the area between Garfield Avenue and Center Street, and between Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and Seventh Street in Coggs’ Sixth Aldermanic District. It was inspired by Milwaukee’s original Bronzeville, which was located on Walnut Street and was an economic capital for black business owners.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct where Vel Phillips went to law school. We apologize for the error.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Arts and Recreation, Community, North Tagged With: Arts and Recreation, Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District, Community, Jamie Johnson, Michael Phillips, Milele A. Coggs, Vel R. Phillips

Avatar

About Ryeshia Farmer

Comments

  1. Avatarjohn sieger says

    August 11, 2018 at 9:14 am

    Congratulations to Ms. Phillips and her family. It’s about time. I’ve been saying to anyone that listens Milwaukee needs more names on our street and fewer numbers. There are many great people that came from this town and it would be an honor to drive down a street named after them. I would especially like to see one named after Gene Wilder. I think the rapper and activist Speech is another. I think it would do a lot make our anonymous streets friendlier.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in