1818 - 1892
Ezekiel Gillespie
An important figure in Milwaukee’s black community, Gillespie first opened a grocery store. He then worked for Alexander Mitchell, first in banking, followed by nearly 30 years at the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. Denied the right to vote, Gillespie prevailed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 1866 unanimous decision in favor of suffrage rights for blacks.