65 Facts About Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.

Shirley Chisholm excelled at school and earned her college degree in the United States.

Shirley Chisholm started working in early childhood education and became involved in local Democratic Party politics in the 1950s.

Shirley Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983 and taught at Mount Holyoke College while continuing her political organizing.

In 2015, Shirley Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Shirley Chisholm Anita St Hill was born to immigrant parents on November 30,1924, in Brooklyn, New York City.

Shirley Chisholm had three younger sisters, two born within three years of her and one later.

Shirley Chisholm's father, Charles Christopher St Hill, was born in British Guiana before moving to Barbados.

Shirley Chisholm arrived in New York City via Antilla, Cuba, in 1923.

Shirley Chisholm's mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Christ Church, Barbados and arrived in New York City in 1921.

Shirley Chisholm returned to the United States in 1934, arriving in New York on May 19 aboard the SS Nerissa.

Shirley Chisholm did well academically at Girls' High and was chosen to be vice president of the Junior Arista honor society.

Shirley Chisholm was accepted at and offered scholarships to Vassar College and Oberlin College, but the family could not afford the room-and-board costs to go to either, so, instead, she selected Brooklyn College, where there was no charge for tuition and she could live at home and commute to the school.

Shirley Chisholm earned her Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1946, majoring in sociology and minoring in Spanish.

Shirley Chisholm saw her community advocate for their rights as she witnessed the Barbados workers' and anti-colonial independence movements.

Shirley Chisholm met Conrad O Chisholm in the late 1940s.

Shirley Chisholm had migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1946, and he later became a private investigator who specialized in negligence-based lawsuits.

Shirley Chisholm subsequently suffered two miscarriages, and, to their disappointment, the couple would have no children; although, in the view of scholar Julie Gallagher, it is possible that her career goals played a role in this outcome as well.

Shirley Chisholm became an authority on early education and child welfare issues.

Shirley Chisholm entered the world of politics in 1953 when she joined Wesley "Mac" Holder's effort to elect Lewis Flagg Jr.

Shirley Chisholm eventually left the group around 1958 after clashing with Holder over Shirley Chisholm's push to give female members of the group more input in decision making.

Shirley Chisholm worked as a volunteer for white-dominated political clubs in Brooklyn, like the Brooklyn Democratic Clubs and the League of Women Voters.

Shirley Chisholm was a representative of the Brooklyn branch of the National Association of College Women.

Furthermore, within the political organizations she joined, Shirley Chisholm sought to make meaningful changes to the structure and make-up of the organizations, specifically the Brooklyn Democratic Clubs, which resulted in her being able to recruit more people of color into the 17th District Club and, thus, local politics.

In 1960, Chisholm joined a new organization, the Unity Democratic Club, led by former Elect Flagg member Thomas R Jones.

Shirley Chisholm campaigned for Jones, who lost the election for an assembly seat in 1960, but ran again two years later and won, becoming Brooklyn's second black assemblyman.

Shirley Chisholm calmly explained her experience and commitment to the community and he ended up signing the petition.

Shirley Chisholm chose to appeal directly to women voters, including using her role as Brooklyn branch president of Key Women of America to mobilize female voters.

Shirley Chisholm was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968, sitting in the 175th, 176th and 177th New York State Legislatures.

Shirley Chisholm sponsored the introduction of a SEEK program to the state, which provided disadvantaged students with the chance to enter college while receiving intensive remedial education.

Shirley Chisholm announced her candidacy around January 1968 and established some early organizational support.

Shirley Chisholm thereby became the first black woman elected to Congress, and was the only woman in the first-year class that year.

Speaker of the House John W McCormack assigned Chisholm to serve on the House Agriculture Committee.

When Chisholm confided to Rebbe Menachem M Schneerson that she was upset and insulted by her assignment, Schneerson suggested that she use the surplus food to help the poor and hungry.

Shirley Chisholm subsequently met Bob Dole and worked to expand the food stamp program.

Shirley Chisholm later played a critical role in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program.

Shirley Chisholm was the third-highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.

Shirley Chisholm said that she had faced much more discrimination during her New York legislative career because she was a woman than for her race.

Shirley Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 as one of its founding members.

Shirley Chisholm began exploring her candidacy in July 1971 and formally announced her presidential bid on January 25,1972, in a Baptist church in her district in Brooklyn.

Shirley Chisholm became the first African American to run for a major party's nomination for President of the United States in the 1972 US presidential election, making her the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Shirley Chisholm's campaign was underfunded, only spending $300,000 in total.

Shirley Chisholm struggled to be regarded as a serious candidate instead of as a symbolic political figure; the Democratic political establishment ignored her, and her black male colleagues provided little support.

Shirley Chisholm had difficulties gaining ballot access, but campaigned or received votes in primaries in fourteen states.

Shirley Chisholm's total gave her fourth place in the roll call tally, behind McGovern's winning total of 1,728 delegates.

In that non-binding preference tally, which the Associated Press described as "meaningless", Shirley Chisholm received the majority of votes: 51,433, which was 66.9 percent.

Shirley Chisholm created controversy when she visited rival and ideological opposite George Wallace in the hospital soon after his shooting in May 1972, during the presidential primary campaign.

Several years later, when Shirley Chisholm worked on a bill to give domestic workers the right to a minimum wage, Wallace helped gain votes from enough Southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.

From 1977 to 1981, during the 95th Congress and 96th Congress, Shirley Chisholm served as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus.

Shirley Chisholm supported spending increases for education, health care and other social services.

Shirley Chisholm was very concerned with instances of discrimination against women, and especially those against impoverished women.

Shirley Chisholm opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam War and the expansion of weapon developments and was a vocal opponent of the US military draft.

Shirley Chisholm was a forceful advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, believing that the initial value of passing it would be in the social and psychological effects it would have more than any economic or legal impact.

Shirley Chisholm did not want the amendment modified to incorporate a provision that would permit laws that purportedly protected the health and safety of females, saying such a modification would continue a traditional avenue of discrimination against women.

Shirley Chisholm indicated that, while her legal name was now Hardwick, she would continue to use Chisholm in politics.

Shirley Chisholm began spending some of her time in Buffalo, which brought some political criticism that she was being inattentive to her district.

Shirley Chisholm defended herself by saying she was selecting those candidates who could best protect the interests of, and produce government benefits for, her constituents, but critics said her behavior put the lie to the "unbossed" part of her slogan.

Shirley Chisholm's unpredictability has led to an isolation that has been augmented by her pride and paranoia.

Shirley Chisholm accepted being named to the Purington Chair at the all-women Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, a position that she held for the next four years.

Shirley Chisholm was not a member of any particular department, but was able to teach classes in a variety of areas; those previously holding the professorship included W H Auden, Bertrand Russell and Arna Bontemps.

Shirley Chisholm campaigned for Jesse Jackson during his 1984 presidential campaign and his 1988 one.

Shirley Chisholm died 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.

Shirley Chisholm has been a major influence on other women of color in politics, among them California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who stated in a 2017 interview that Shirley Chisholm had a profound impact on her career.

Shirley Chisholm has inspired Vice President Kamala Harris, who recognized Shirley Chisholm's presidential campaign by using similar typography and red-and-yellow color scheme in her own 2020 presidential campaign's promotional materials and logo.

Shirley Chisholm was heavily featured in Mel Brooks's 2023 satirical television series History of the World, Part II, played by Wanda Sykes.