About 1,000 people are expected at a gala event this weekend as Wisconsin honors a person of color with a statue at its state Capitol, according to the Associated Press.
Workers lowered the shrouded statue of Wisconsin Secretary of State Vel Phillips into position outside a Capitol entrance Tuesday and then encased it in a crate ahead of Saturday’s unveiling.
Michael Johnson, president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County (BGCDC) and a civil rights advocate, came up with the idea and led efforts to raise $700,000 to cover the costs.
Black actor Larenz Tate is set to host this weekend’s event, with Gov. Tony Evers and Phillips’ son among the attendees.
Phillips was the first Black woman to graduate from the UW–Madison Law School, win a seat on the Milwaukee City Council, and to become a judge in Wisconsin. Then she became the first woman and Black person elected to statewide office in Wisconsin, serving as secretary of state from 1979 to 1983. She died in 2018 at age 95.
A task force led by Johnson’s organization raised donations to cover the entire cost, with no state assistance other than preparing the site.
