Source: Provided by Von Communications
May 24, 2026, 2:03 PM ET
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Lucille Berrien, the first Black woman to run for mayor of Milwaukee, has died.
A longtime community leader, political organizer, and family matriarch, Berrien passed away on May 22 surrounded by family, according to a statement from Von Communications. She was 98.
Born in 1928, Berrien ran for mayor in 1972. Former Mayor Henry W. Maier would go on to win the general election and secure a fourth term.
Berrien also ran for state treasurer of Wisconsin in 1990. Cathy S. Zeuske would go on to win the race.
In 2021, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution renaming Lindbergh Park, at the corner of Nash and 16th Street, to Lucille Berrien Park.
“I join in remembering and honoring Lucille Berrien whose activism and leadership left a mark on our city,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement. “I offer my condolences to her family and friends.”
Funeral plans will be announced at a later date.
Drake Bentley is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, Newsweek, Heavy and The Sporting News. He is a northside Milwaukee native, former political staffer and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the University of Nebraska.
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