Whereas Velvalea Vel Phillips was born Velvalea Hortense Rodgers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 18, 1924, and passed away on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at age 94; Whereas Velvalea Vel Phillips, graduated from North Division High School in 1942 and received a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1946; Whereas after graduating from Howard, she returned to Milwaukee and began volunteering at the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Whereas after getting married in 1948, she and her husband moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to together attend the University of Wisconsin Law School where they were the first Black married couple to integrate the university’s family housing; Whereas despite immense hostility, Velvalea Vel Phillips became the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1951, and she and her husband, Dale Phillips, were the first husband-wife team admitted to the Federal bar; Whereas soon after, she and her husband moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she joined the League of Women Voters to register her neighbors to vote; Whereas, in 1953, she ran for the Milwaukee School Board and although unsuccessful, she became the first Black candidate to make it past a nonpartisan city-wide primary election, and despite this momentary setback, she continued to challenge School Board policies that disadvantaged African-American teachers and students; Whereas, in 1956, Velvalea Vel Phillips was the first woman and first African American elected to the Milwaukee Common Council; Whereas, in 1958, she was elected to the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first Black person of either gender to serve on the national committee of either party, and she used that forum to convince soon-to-be President Kennedy to adopt a national platform fully committed to civil rights