Lucille Berrien is an activist from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. She was good friends with fellow

Open housing Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...

advocate

James Groppi James Edmund Groppi (November 16, 1930 – November 4, 1985) was an American Catholic former priest and noted civil rights activist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became well known for leading numerous protests, many times being arrested during ...

. She ran for

mayor of Milwaukee This is a list of mayors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following the election of Socialist Emil Seidel as mayor of Milwaukee in 1910, Wisconsin legislators passed a bill in 1912 to declare most local offices across the state as officially non-parti ...

in 1972, becoming the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman to do so, but lost the race to incumbent

Henry Maier Henry Walter Maier (February 7, 1918 – July 17, 1994) was an American politician and the longest-serving mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, holding office from 1960 to 1988. A Democrat, Maier was a powerful and controversial figure, presiding ove ...

. Though she had recently joined the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

, she ran a

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

race for mayor. Berrien also ran for

State Treasurer of Wisconsin The state treasurer of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of Wisconsin, government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Thirty-six individuals have held the office since statehood. The incumbent is John Le ...

in 1990 with the

Labor–Farm Party of Wisconsin The Labor–Farm Party of Wisconsin (also Wisconsin Labor and Farm Party, or LFP) was an independent left-leaning political party in the state of Wisconsin. In 1984, William Osborne Hart, one of the party's founders, intended to run for President ...

, but lost to Cathy Zeuske. Berrien was a supporter of Milwaukee

Alderperson An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

Michael McGee Jr., even after his 2008 convictions for

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, believing he was set up by the government. In 2013, the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin honored Berrien with one of the inaugural Community Health Champion Awards. In April 2021 there was an effort to rename a Milwaukee park currently named for

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

in her honor. On October 23, 2021, the name of the park was officially changed in her honor to "Lucille Berrien Park".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berrien, Lucille Living people 1928 births 20th-century American women politicians African-American people in Wisconsin politics Politicians from Milwaukee Members of the Black Panther Party Activists from Florida 20th-century Wisconsin politicians