Shirley Chisholm

(November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005)

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York to immigrant parents who came to the United States from Barbados. Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn College and the Teachers College at Columbia University. In 1968, she became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress and represented New York’s 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. During her time in office, Chisholm served on the House Agriculture Committee where she worked to expand the food stamp program. The legislation she introduced also focused on gender and racial equality and ending the Vietnam War. 

In the 1972 United States presidential election, she became the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. After the unsuccessful bid for President, Chisholm continued serving in the House of Representatives. In 1977, she was elected as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus. Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983, where she was succeeded by Major Owens. In 2015, Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Shirley Chisholm was also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and a life member of the NAACP. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Chisholm also authored two books, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973). She received many honorary degrees, and her awards include Alumna of the Year, Brooklyn College; Key Woman of the Year; Outstanding Work in the Field of Child Welfare; and Woman of Achievement. Shirley Chisholm passed away on January 1, 2005, at her home in Ormond Beach, Florida; her health had been in decline after she had suffered a series of small strokes the previous summer. and is interred in Forest Lawn Cemetery next to her husband

Resource. National Archives