Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who was elected to the United States Congress for the first time in 1968. Chisholm served seven terms in New York's 12th congressional district, which included Bedford-Stuyvesant, from 1969 to 1983. She was the first black contender for a major-party candidacy for President of the United States, as well as the first woman to seek for the Democratic Party's nomination, in 1972.

She was born in Brooklyn, New York, but spent her childhood years in Barbados, where she considered herself a Barbadian American. She excelled in school and completed her undergraduate education in the United States. In the 1950s, she began working in early childhood education and became interested in local Democratic Party politics. She was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1964, overcoming some opposition since she was a woman. She was elected to Congress four years later, where she led the expansion of food and nutrition programs for the poor and rose to party leadership. She left Congress in 1983 to teach at Mount Holyoke College while continuing her political activism. Despite being nominated for an ambassadorship in 1993, she declined due to health concerns. Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Detailed information:

Full name: Shirley Anita Chisholm

Born: November 30, 1924

Died: January 1, 2005

Notable works:

• Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
• Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom New York's 12th district
• Member of the New York State Assembly