A new children’s book celebrates legacy of late Wisconsin civil rights leader Vel Phillips

When she first moved to Wisconsin in the early 2000s, writer Jerrianne Hayslett unknowingly befriended civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips at a community meeting.

“She spent the whole time asking questions about me … Afterward, I realized I really didn’t know who I had been talking to,” Hayslett told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “I looked her up [on the internet] and found out what an astounding person she was.” 

As a Black woman, Phillips achieved many state and nationwide firsts during her career as a lawmaker in Wisconsin. Perhaps most notably in 1978, Phillips won her race for Wisconsin’s secretary of state — making her the first Black person in the U.S. ever elected to a statewide office.

After they met, Hayslett searched for a book about Phillips so she could learn more about her life, but to no avail.

“After years [of looking] I thought, ‘Maybe I should just write one myself,’” Hayslett said.

The birthday book

This year, on what would have been Phillips’ 102nd birthday, Wisconsin Historical Society Press published Hayslett’s children’s book “Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality,” illustrated by Wisconsin children’s book creator Aaron Boyd. 

Phillips’ son, Michael Phillips, personally asked Boyd to illustrate the book after seeing his work. 

“I don’t know if Michael had even finished asking me if I’d be willing to illustrate the book,” Boyd told “Wisconsin Today.” “I just said, ‘Yes.’”

“Vel Phillips is such a hero. She didn’t just tackle issues that are issues in Milwaukee or Wisconsin, but the United States as a whole,” he continued. “To be a part of a project in a team like that was a no-brainer for me.”

To help guide Hayslett’s writing, Michael Phillips provided Hayslett some notes from an unpublished autobiography Vel Phillips was working on before her death in 2018.

“It’s a book for all ages,” Hayslett said.

History we can touch

For Boyd to illustrate non-fictional people, he said he puts himself in their shoes and taps into his own lived experiences to help convey emotions on the page.

Boyd said one of the most memorable scenes he illustrated is from Vel Phillips’ autobiography notes: At 16, after being confronted with racism by one of her teachers, she was called to the principal’s office, filled with nervous anxiety because she didn’t know why — or if — she was in trouble.

“I think she was only one of a few African American students at the school at the time, and so it really was her alone, going into this office,” Boyd said. “When I [drew] that, I kept that feeling inside of myself while I was illustrating — that anxiety, but also that knowing that you’re right.”

Boyd says he enjoys working on stories about historical figures like Vel Phillips — and previously, John Lewis — because he’s “reaching for history that we can touch. Vel Phillips is not ancient history. Her son is still out there doing the work. The things that [Vel] helped build are still here.”

Boyd and Hayslett both hope Vel Phillips’ story shows children they can accomplish their goals — even if they’re the first to do so. 

“This story goes across political lines, gender and race,” Boyd said. “Getting children involved and making them see that they have a stake in their own future is very important for us now and tomorrow.”