Shirley Chisholm was known for her many “firsts” – First Black congresswoman, first Black woman to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee, and the first Black woman to seek the presidency of the United States. An outspoken advocate for the rights of women, minorities and working people, Chisholm served seven terms in Congress. She worked to end the war in Vietnam, improve access to education and child care, and to create a more equitable America. She was a founding member of both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Women’s Caucus.

“I get discouraged when I see I’m just one person and can’t cure the ills of 300 years. But I’m going to fight for my people. It’s a tremendous challenge and I accept it.” (Shirley Chisholm, 1969)

“I am not the candidate of black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political policies or fat cats or special interests. I stand here now, without endorsements from any big name politicians or celebrities or any other kind of prop. I do not intend to offer you the tired cliches that have too long been accepted part of our political life. I am the candidate of the people of America.”
(Shirley Chisholm announcing her candidacy for president, January 25, 1972. )

Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1924, to Charles St. Hill, a factory laborer from Guyana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados. After spending part of her childhood with her maternal grandparents in Barbados, Chisholm returned to Brooklyn to re-join her parents and to complete her education. She attended Girl’s High School and Brooklyn College, graduating cum laude with a BA in sociology in 1946. While working in early childhood education, Chisholm earned a master’s in childhood education from Teachers College of Columbia University in 1951.

Chisholm became involved in local Brooklyn politics and began her political career in earnest in 1964 when she was elected to the New York state legislature, the second Black woman to serve in Albany. In 1968 she was elected to represent a newly created US congressional district in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, becoming the first Black Congresswoman. Chisholm’s work in both Albany and Washington was focused on improving the lives of women and underserved populations. She supported the equal rights amendment, legislation to fund school lunches, childcare, student aid, and guaranteed minimum annual income for families.

Despite opposition from members of her own party, entrenched sexism and racism in politics, and a lack of funding, Chisholm pursued her historical bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972.  Chisholm often used the phrase “Unbought and Unbossed,” to describe her independence from the “party machine” and politics as usual. It was the title of her 1970 autobiography and became a slogan for her presidential campaign. At the Democratic National Convention in Miami in 1972, she collected 152 delegate votes, 10 percent of the votes cast, making history, and paving the way for future generations.

“I ran for the Presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.”

Chisholm continued to represent her Bedford-Stuyvesant community until her retirement in 1983. "When I ran for the Congress, when I ran for president, I met more discrimination as a woman than for being Black. Men are men," she told the Asssociated Press in 1982. In retirement she taught at Mount Holyoke College. She continued to work on issues related to creating a more just society and co-founded the National Congress of Black Women and African American Women for Reproductive Freedom.

Shirley Chisholm died on January 1, 2005. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. At the ceremony, President Barak Obama, remarked that when asked how she’d like to be remembered, Shirley Chisholm had an answer: “I’d like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts.”

When Shirley Chisholm made her first speech on the floor of the House on March 26, 1969, she left no doubt about her priorities. She spoke out against the Vietnam War and the inflated defense budget. She vowed to vote against any increases in defense spending “until the time comes when our values and priorities have been turned right side up again, until the monstrous waste and the shocking profits in the defense budget have been eliminated and our country starts to use its strength, its tremendous resources, for people and peace, not for profits and war.”

Shirley Chisholm claimed her seat at the beginning of the 91st Congress in 1969, one of nine Black representatives who organized the Democratic Select Committee (DSC), a forum for the group to share common concerns. In 1971, the number of Black representatives rose to 13 and the group organized more formally as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). When President Richard M. Nixon refused to meet with the CBC, the members protested by boycotting the January 1971 State of the Union address, bringing national attention to issues faced by Black members of Congress and their constituents. Nixon relented and agreed to a meeting with members of the CBC in March 1971.

"As she was a leader for her own generation, Shirley Chisholm will be an inspiration for generations to follow.”

(Nancy Pelosi commenting on the death of Shirley Chisholm, January 3, 2005)

Photo editing and text by Francesca Pitaro.

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