Lucille Berrien is an activist from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. She was good friends with fellow

Open housing Housing discrimination in the United States refers to the historical and current barriers, policies, and biases that prevent equitable access to housing. Housing discrimination became more pronounced after the abolition of slavery in 1865, typical ...

advocate

James Groppi James Edmund Groppi (November 16, 1930 – November 4, 1985) was an erstwhile Catholic priest and noted civil rights activist based 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. List External linksJS Online {{Mayors of the City of Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporatio ...

in 1972, becoming the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

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 over ...

. Though she had recently joined the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

, she ran a

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

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 the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Thirty-six individuals have held the office of State Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Sarah Godlewski ...

in 1990 with the Labor–Farm Party of Wisconsin, but lost to

Cathy Zeuske Cathy Susan "Cate" Zeuske (born December 4, 1958), is an American Republican politician who served as the 31st State Treasurer of Wisconsin and 9th Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. She was also elected to four terms in the Wisco ...

. 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. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

Michael McGee Jr., even after his 2008 convictions for

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, 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, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

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 People from Florida 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American women