Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
.
Chisholm represented
New York's 12th congressional district
New York's 12th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York City. As of 2023, it is represented by Democrat Jerry Nadler, redistricted incumbent of the former 10th cong ...
, a district centered on
Bedford–Stuyvesant, for seven terms from 1969 to 1983.
In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, and the first woman to run for the
Democratic Party's nomination.
Born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, she spent ages five through nine in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, and always considered herself a
Barbadian American. She excelled at school and earned her college degree in the United States. She started working in early childhood education and became involved in local Democratic Party politics in the 1950s. In 1964, overcoming some resistance because she was a woman, she was elected to the
New York State Assembly. Four years later, she was elected to Congress, where she led the expansion of food and nutrition programs for the poor and rose to party leadership. She retired from Congress in 1983 and taught at
Mount Holyoke College while continuing her political organizing. Although nominated for an ambassadorship in 1993, health issues caused her to withdraw. In 2015, Chisholm was posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
.
Early life and education
Shirley Anita St. Hill was born to immigrant parents on November 30, 1924, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City. She was of
Guyanese and
Bajan
Bajan may refer to:
Geography and culture
Barbados
* Barbadians, known by the colloquialism Bajan(s) (pronounced 'bay-jun')
* Barbadian English language
* Bajan Creole, a Creole language
Other location
* Something or someone from Baja ...
descent.
[Brooks-Bertram and Nevergold, ''Uncrowned Queens'', p. 146. ] She had three younger sisters,
two born within three years of her and one later.
Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in
British Guiana before moving to
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', pp. 7–8.] He arrived in New York City via
Antilla, Cuba
Antilla is a municipality in Holguín Province of Cuba. It was founded in January 21, 1925 as a railroad terminal and port town.
Geography
It is located on the north-eastern shore of Cuba, on a peninsula between the ''Gulf of Nipe'' and ''Banes ...
, in 1923.
Her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in
Christ Church, Barbados
The parish of Christ Church is one of eleven historic political divisions of Barbados. It has a land area of and is found at the southern end of the island. Christ Church has survived by name as one of the original six parishes created in 1629 b ...
and arrived in New York City in 1921.
Charles St. Hill was a laborer who worked in a factory that made burlap bags and as a baker's helper. Ruby St. Hill was a skilled seamstress and domestic worker who experienced the difficulty of balancing work with raising children at the same time.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 9.] As a consequence, in November 1929, when Shirley turned five, she and her two sisters were sent to Barbados on the ''
MS Vulcania
The MS ''Vulcania'' was an Italian ocean liner built by Cantiere Navale Triestino, Monfalcone, northern Italy, in 1926 for the Italian company, Cosulich Line.
Characteristics
The ''Vulcania'' is considered one of the most successful passenger sh ...
'' to live with their maternal grandmother, Emaline Seale.
She later said, "Granny gave me strength, dignity, and love. I learned from an early age that I was somebody. I didn't need the black revolution to tell me that."
Shirley and her sisters lived on their grandmother's farm in the Vauxhall village in Christ Church, where she attended a one-room schoolhouse. She returned to the United States in 1934, arriving in New York on May 19 aboard the ''
SS Nerissa''.
As a result of her time in Barbados, Shirley spoke with a
West Indian accent throughout her life.
In her 1970 autobiography ''Unbought and Unbossed'', she wrote: "Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason." In addition, she belonged to the
Quaker Brethren sect found in the West Indies, and religion became important to her; however, later in life, she attended services in a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
church.
As a result of her time on the island, and despite her U.S. birth, Shirley would always consider herself a
Barbadian American.
Beginning in 1939, Shirley attended
Girls' High School
Girls High School is a historically and architecturally notable public secondary school building located at 475 Nostrand Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It was built in 1886.''Brooklyn: a soup-to-nuts ...
in the
Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, a highly regarded, integrated school that attracted girls from throughout Brooklyn.
[Shirley Chisholm, ''Unbought and Unbossed: Expanded 40th Anniversary Edition'', Take Root Media, 2010, p. 38.] She did well academically at Girls' High and was chosen to be vice president of the
Junior Arista honor society.
She was accepted at and offered scholarships to
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
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.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 21.]
Shirley earned her
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
from Brooklyn College in 1946, majoring in sociology and minoring in Spanish (a language that she would employ at times during her political career).
She won prizes for her debating skills
and graduated ''cum laude''.
During her time at Brooklyn College, she was a member of
Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Harriet Tubman Society. As a member of the Harriet Tubman Society, she advocated for inclusion (specifically in terms of the integration of black soldiers in the military during World War II), the addition of courses that focused on African-American history, and the involvement of more women in the student government.
However, this was not her first introduction to activism or politics. Growing up, Shirley was surrounded by politics, as her father was an avid supporter of
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
and a dedicated supporter of the rights of trade union members.
She saw her community advocate for their rights as she witnessed the Barbados workers' and anti-colonial independence movements.
Shirley met Conrad O. Chisholm in the late 1940s.
He had migrated to the United States from
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
in 1946, and he later became a private investigator who specialized in negligence-based lawsuits.
They married in 1949 in a large West Indian-style wedding.
She 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.
After graduating from college, Chisholm began working as a teacher's aide at the Mt. Calvary Child Care Center in Harlem.
She would work at the center in a teaching role from 1946 to 1953.
Meanwhile she was furthering her education,
attending classes at night and earning her
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in childhood education from
Teachers College
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1951.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 26.]
Early career
From 1953 to 1954 she was director of the Friend in Need Nursery,
located in
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsie ...
,
and then from 1954 to 1959 she was director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center,
located in
Lower Manhattan.
At the latter there were 130 children, ages three to seven, and 24 employees reporting to her.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 28.] From 1959 to 1964, she was an educational consultant for the Division of Day Care in New York City's Bureau of Child Welfare.
There, she was in charge of supervising ten day-care centers as well as starting up new ones. She became an authority on early education and child welfare issues.
Chisholm entered the world of politics in 1953 when she joined Wesley "Mac" Holder's effort to elect Lewis Flagg Jr. to the bench as the first black judge in Brooklyn.
The Flagg election group later transformed into the Bedford–Stuyvesant Political League (BSPL).
The BSPL pushed candidates to support civil rights, fought against racial discrimination in housing, and sought to improve economic opportunities and services in Brooklyn.
Chisholm eventually left the group around 1958 after clashing with Holder over Chisholm's push to give female members of the group more input in decision making.
She also worked as a volunteer for white-dominated political clubs in Brooklyn, like the Brooklyn Democratic Clubs and the
League of Women Voters.
With the Political League, she was part of a committee that chose the recipient of its annual Brotherhood Award. She also was a representative of the Brooklyn branch of the National Association of College Women. Furthermore, within the political organizations she joined, 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 (UDC), led by former Elect Flagg member
Thomas R. Jones.
The UDC's membership was mostly middle class, racially integrated, and included women in leadership positions.
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.
State legislator
After Jones accepted a judicial appointment rather than seek reelection, Chisholm sought to run for his seat in the New York state assembly in 1964.
Chisholm faced resistance based on her sex, with the UDC hesitant to support a female candidate.
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.
Chisholm won the
Democratic primary in June 1964.
She then won the seat in December with over 18,000 votes over Republican and Liberal party candidates, neither of whom received more than 1,900 votes.
Chisholm was a member of the
New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968, sitting in the
175th,
176th and
177th New York State Legislature
The 177th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1967, to May 25, 1968, during the ninth and tenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.
Backgro ...
s. By May 1965, she had already been honored in a "Salute to Women Doers" affair in New York. One of her early activities in the Assembly was to argue against the state's
literacy test requiring English, holding that just because a person "functions better in his native language is no sign a person is illiterate". By early 1966, she was a leader in a push by the statewide Council of Elected Negro Democrats for black representation on key committees in the Assembly.
Her successes in the legislature included getting
unemployment benefits
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
extended to domestic workers.
She also sponsored the introduction of a SEEK program (Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge) to the state, which provided disadvantaged students with the chance to enter college while receiving intensive
remedial education.
In August 1968, she was elected as the
Democratic National Committeewoman from New York State.
U.S. House of Representatives
Initial election
In 1968, Chisholm ran for the
U.S. House of Representatives from
New York's 12th congressional district
New York's 12th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York City. As of 2023, it is represented by Democrat Jerry Nadler, redistricted incumbent of the former 10th cong ...
, which as part of a court-mandated reapportionment plan had been significantly redrawn to focus on Bedford–Stuyvesant and was thus expected to result in Brooklyn's first black member of Congress.
(
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. had, in 1945, become the first black member of Congress from New York City as a whole.) As a result of the redrawing, the white incumbent in the former 12th, Representative
Edna F. Kelly, sought reelection in a different district.
Chisholm announced her candidacy around January 1968 and established some early organizational support.
Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and unbossed".
In the June 18, 1968, Democratic primary, Chisholm defeated two other black opponents, State Senator William S. Thompson and labor official Dollie Robertson.
In the general election, she staged an upset victory
over
James Farmer
James Leonard Farmer Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." ...
, the former director of the
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...
who was running as a
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
candidate with Republican support, winning by an approximately two-to-one margin.
Chisholm thereby became the first black woman elected to Congress,
and was the only woman in the first-year class that year.
Early terms
The Speaker of the House assigned Chisholm to serve on the
House Agriculture Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents.
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. Chisholm subsequently met
Bob Dole and worked to expand the
food stamp program
In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...
. She later played a critical role in the creation of the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Chisholm would credit Schneerson for the fact that so many "poor babies
owhave milk and poor children have food". Chisholm was then also placed on the
Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Soon after, she voted for
Hale Boggs
Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. (February 15, 1914 – disappeared October 16, 1972; declared dead December 29, 1972) was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the House ma ...
as
House Majority Leader over
John Conyers. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized
Education and Labor Committee,
which was her preferred committee.
She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.
Initially, Chisholm only hired women for her office; half of them were black.
In later years, she did hire some men for both her Washington office and the one in her Brooklyn district. Chisholm said that she had faced much more discrimination during her New York legislative career because she was a woman than for her race.
Chisholm joined the
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...
in 1971 as one of its founding members.
In the same year, she was also a founding member of the
National Women's Political Caucus.
In May 1971, Chisholm and fellow New York Congresswoman
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steine ...
introduced a bill to provide $10 billion in federal funds for child-care services by 1975.
A less expensive version introduced by Senator
Walter Mondale eventually passed the House and Senate as the
Comprehensive Child Development Bill, but was vetoed by President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in December 1971, who said it was too expensive and would undermine the institution of the family.
1972 presidential campaign
Chisholm began exploring her candidacy in July 1971 and formally announced her presidential bid on January 25, 1972,
in a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church in her district in Brooklyn.
There she called for a "bloodless revolution" at the forthcoming Democratic nomination convention.
Chisholm became the first African American to run for a major party's nomination for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
in the
1972 U.S. presidential election, making her also the first woman ever to run for the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination (U.S. Senator
Margaret Chase Smith had previously run for the 1964 Republican presidential nomination).
In her presidential announcement, Chisholm described herself as representative of the people and offered a new articulation of American identity: "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 equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history."
Her campaign was underfunded, only spending $300,000 in total.
She also 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.
She later said, "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."
In particular, she expressed frustration about the "black matriarch thing", saying, "They think I am trying to take power from them. The black man must step forward, but that doesn't mean the black woman must step back."
Her husband, however, was fully supportive of her candidacy and said, "I have no hangups about a woman running for president."
Security was also a concern, as, during the campaign, three confirmed threats were made against her life; Conrad Chisholm served as her bodyguard until
U.S. Secret Service protection was given to her in May 1972.
Chisholm skipped the initial March 7 New Hampshire contest, instead focusing on the March 14 Florida primary, which she thought would be receptive due to its "blacks, youth, and a strong women's movement".
But due to organizational difficulties and Congressional responsibilities, she only made two campaign trips there and ended with 3.5 percent of the vote for a seventh-place finish.
Chisholm had difficulties gaining ballot access, but campaigned or received votes in primaries in fourteen states.
Her largest number of votes came in the June 6 California primary, where she received 157,435 votes for 4.4 percent and a fourth-place finish, while her best percentage in a competitive primary came in the May 6 North Carolina one, where she got 7.5 percent for a third-place finish.
Overall, she won 28 delegates during the primaries process itself.
Chisholm's base of support was ethnically diverse and included the
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
.
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
and
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Steinem was a c ...
attempted to run as Chisholm delegates in New York.
Altogether, during the primary season, she received 430,703 votes, which was 2.7 percent of the total of nearly 16 million cast and represented seventh place among the Democratic contenders.
In June, Chisholm became the first woman to appear in a
United States presidential debate.
At the
1972 Democratic National Convention
The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, also the host city of the Repub ...
in
Miami Beach, Florida, there were still efforts taking place by the campaign of former Vice President
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...
to stop the nomination of Senator
George McGovern for president. After that failed and McGovern's nomination was assured, as a symbolic gesture, Humphrey released his black delegates to Chisholm. This, combined with defections from disenchanted delegates from other candidates, as well as the delegates she had won in the primaries, gave her a total of 152 first-ballot votes for the presidential nomination during the July 12 roll call.
(Her precise total was 151.95.
) Her largest support overall came from Ohio, with 23 delegates (slightly more than half of them white),
even though she had not been on the ballot in the May 2 primary there.
Her total gave her fourth place in the roll call tally, behind McGovern's winning total of 1,728 delegates.
Chisholm said she ran for office "in spite of hopeless odds ... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo".
It is sometimes stated that Chisholm won a primary in 1972, or won three states overall, with New Jersey, Louisiana, and Mississippi being so identified. None of these fit the usual definition of winning a plurality of the contested popular vote or delegate allocations at the time of a state primary, caucus, or state convention. In the June 6 New Jersey primary, there was a complex ballot that featured both a delegate selection vote and a non-binding, non-delegate-producing "beauty contest" presidential preference vote.
In the delegate selection vote, Democratic front-runner McGovern defeated his main rival at that point, Humphrey, and won the large share of available delegates.
Of the Democratic candidates, only Chisholm and former North Carolina governor
Terry Sanford
James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford served as the 65th Governor of North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, was a two-time U.S. pr ...
were on the statewide preference ballot.
Sanford had withdrawn from the contest three weeks earlier. In that non-binding preference tally, which the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
described as "meaningless", Chisholm received the majority of votes:
51,433, which was 66.9 percent.
During the actual balloting at the national convention, Chisholm received votes from only 4 of New Jersey's 109 delegates, with 89 going to McGovern.
In the May 13 Louisiana caucuses, there was a battle between forces of McGovern and Alabama governor
George Wallace; nearly all of the delegates chosen were those who identified as uncommitted, many of them black. Leading up to the convention, McGovern was thought to control 20 of Louisiana's 44 delegates, with most of the rest uncommitted.
During the actual roll call at the national convention, Louisiana passed at first, then cast 18.5 of its 44 votes for Chisholm, with the next best finishers being McGovern and Senator
Henry M. Jackson
Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and a ...
with 10.25 each.
As one delegate explained, "Our strategy was to give Shirley our votes for sentimental reasons on the first ballot. However, if our votes would have made the difference, we would have gone with McGovern."
In Mississippi, there were two rival party factions that each selected delegates at their own state conventions and caucuses: "regulars", representing the mostly-white state Democratic Party, and "loyalists", representing many blacks and white liberals.
Each slate professed to be largely uncommitted, but the regulars were thought to favor Wallace and the loyalists McGovern.
By the time of the national convention, the loyalists were seated following a credentials challenge, and their delegates were characterized as mostly supporting McGovern, with some support for Humphrey.
During the convention, some McGovern delegates became angry about what they saw as statements from McGovern that backed away from his commitment to end U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, and cast protest votes for Chisholm as a result. During the actual balloting, Mississippi went in the first half of the roll call, and cast 12 of its 25 votes for Chisholm, with McGovern coming next with 10 votes.
During the campaign, the German filmmaker
Peter Lilienthal shot the documentary film ''Shirley Chisholm for President'' for the German television channel
ZDF.
Later terms
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 Chisholm worked on a bill to give
domestic workers the right to a
minimum wage, Wallace helped gain votes of enough Southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.
From 1977 to 1981, during the
95th Congress
The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977, ...
and
96th Congress
The 96th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 197 ...
, Chisholm served as
Secretary of the Democratic Caucus.
Throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for
inner-city
The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...
residents.
She supported spending increases for education, health care, and other social services.
She was very concerned by instances of discrimination against women, and especially those against impoverished women.
She also focused on
land rights for Native Americans.
In the area of national security and foreign policy, Chisholm worked for the revocation of
Internal Security Act of 1950. She opposed the American involvement in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and the expansion of weapon developments and was a vocal opponent of the
U.S. military draft.
During the
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
administration, she called for better treatment of
Haitian refugees.
She 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. She 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. Regarding a specific argument made along these lines, that the amendment would require women to be subject to the draft, Chisholm was unperturbed, saying that if there was a draft, women could serve, and that some larger, stronger women might perform better in infantry roles than some smaller, weaker men.
At the same time, Chisholm was aware of how much of
second-wave feminism in the United States focused on the concerns of middle-class white women, such as the adoption of the term "
Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
"
At the 1973 convention of the National Women's Political Caucus, Chisholm said that "women of color" were faced with "
double discrimination" that especially affected them economically and that the women's movement needed to make changes to better reflect such women and their concerns.
Scholar Julie Gallagher has written that Chisholm's pressure in this regard did make some difference in the focus of the women's movement during subsequent years in the 1970s.
Chisholm's first marriage ended in a divorce that was granted on February 4, 1977, in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
.
Later that year, on November 26,
she married
Arthur Hardwick, Jr., a former New York State Assemblyman whom Chisholm had known when they both served in that body and who was now a
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
liquor store owner.
The ceremony was held in a Buffalo area hotel.
She indicated that while her legal name was now Hardwick, she would continue to use Chisholm in politics.
She began spending some of her time in Buffalo, which brought some political criticism that she was being inattentive to her district.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 147.]
By the mid-late 1970s, there was growing dissatisfaction with Chisholm among some liberals in New York state and city politics, who felt that Chisholm too often sided with Democratic party bosses over liberal, black, or feminist challengers.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', pp. 143–144.] Instances of her doing this included supporting the incumbent conservative Democrat
John J. Rooney over the liberal antiwar activist
Allard Lowenstein in a 1972 congressional primary; failing to support
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steine ...
's primary campaigns for U.S. senator in 1976 and New York mayor in 1977; failing to support the young feminist
Elizabeth Holtzman's successful primary challenge to the aging congressional incumbent
Emanuel Celler
Emanuel Celler (May 6, 1888 – January 15, 1981) was an American politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives for almost 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. He served as the dean of the United States H ...
in 1972; and remaining neutral during longtime African-American civil rights leader and elected official
Percy Sutton
Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was ...
's bid in the 1977 mayoral primary, followed by endorsing
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
in a runoff.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 145.] This dissatisfaction was exemplified by a long 1978 piece published in ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'', titled "Chisholm's Compromises: Politics and the Art of Self-Interest" and written by former UDC ally
Andrew W. Cooper and ''Voice'' investigative reporter
Wayne Barrett
Wayne Barrett (July 11, 1945 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist. He worked as an investigative reporter and senior editor for ''The Village Voice'' for 37 years, until he was laid off in 2011.
Early life and education
Barre ...
.
Similarly, ''
The Amsterdam News
The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...
'' ran an editorial about the "Chisholm problem".
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.
To her biographer Barbara Winslow, being a black and a woman Chisholm had no natural political base and she was likely siding with the Democratic machine in order to give herself a secure spot from which to speak out on the provocative progressive messages she wanted to put forth.
A later analysis in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' framed the matter by saying that despite the celebrity stemming from her presidential campaign, "Chisholm has been a lonely politician. Her unpredictability has led to an isolation that has been augmented by her pride and paranoia."
Hardwick was badly injured in an April 1979 automobile accident.
Desiring to take care of him, and also dissatisfied with the course of liberal politics in the wake of the
Reagan Revolution
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
, Chisholm decided to leave Congress.
The possibility that she would be challenged in a Democratic primary election may have also been a factor in her decision.
She announced her retirement in February 1982, saying that she looked forward to "a more private life" and that the
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
was "not responsive to our constituency. The constituency is going to be more voluble and demanding, and I find myself in a position where I can't help them."
She also lamented the tactics of the
Christian right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...
, which she said made potent use of the media and the symbols of family, morality, and the national flag to quiet dissatisfaction in the people.
But overall, she felt that press reports had overemphasized her political dissatisfaction in her retirement calculus; fundamentally, she said in September 1982, "I've been so obsessed with politics and the desire to help my people all these years, I've never had time to think about my personal life. I think the accident was an instrument, God's way of making me reassess my life."
She said she never intended to spend her whole career in politics and looked forward to a return to teaching.
Later life and death
After leaving Congress in January 1983, Chisholm made her home in
Williamsville, New York
Williamsville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an e ...
, a suburb of Buffalo.
Wanting to resume her career in education, she had hoped to be named a college president, in particular of
Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn or of
City College of New York in Manhattan, but past political opponents were influential in the selection processes and she received neither post.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', pp. 150–151.] Similarly, a move to make her
New York City Schools Chancellor was blocked by teachers union head, and longtime foe
Albert Shanker, and she withdrew from consideration for that position.
However, she was offered a dozen possible teaching positions at colleges.
She accepted being named to the Purington Chair at the all-women
Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, a position she held for the next four years.
She 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
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
,
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
, and
Arna Bontemps.
When questioned why she would want to teach at an institution with mostly affluent whites as students, she replied that she enjoyed the challenge of exposing them to both her feminist viewpoint and her background and experiences. In addition, during this time, she spent the Spring 1985 semester as a visiting professor at the historically black women's
Spelman College
Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...
in Atlanta.
There she taught classes titled "Congress, Power and Politics", where she sought to engage students in questions about representative government, and "History of the Black Woman in America".
In 1984, Chisholm and
C. Delores Tucker co-founded an organization initially known as the National Black Women's Political Caucus. This was established during the vice presidential campaign of
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...
. African-American women from various political organizations convened to set forth a political agenda emphasizing the needs of women of African descent. Chisholm was chosen as its first chair. Creation of the group represented a split with an earlier organization, the
National Black Women's Political Leadership Caucus, which had been co-founded by Tucker in 1971. Following a protest by the earlier group, the new one changed its name to the National Political Congress of Black Women, later simplified to the
National Congress of Black Women.
During those years, she continued to give speeches at colleges, by her own count visiting over 150 campuses since becoming nationally known.
She told students to avoid polarization and intolerance: "If you don't accept others who are different, it means nothing that you've learned calculus."
Continuing to be involved politically, she traveled to visit different minority groups and urge them to become a strong force at the local level.
She campaigned for
Jesse Jackson during
his 1984 presidential campaign and
his 1988 one. In 1990, Chisholm, along with 15 other black women and men, formed
African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom.
Her husband Hardwick died in August 1986. Chisholm moved to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
in 1991.
In 1993, President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
nominated her to be
United States Ambassador to Jamaica, but she could not serve due to poor health, and the nomination was withdrawn. In the same year she was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame.
Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, at her home in
Ormond Beach, Florida
Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolita ...
;
her health had been in decline after she had suffered a series of small
strokes the previous summer.
At her funeral, held in
Palm Coast, Florida, the minister said that Chisholm had brought about change because "she showed up, she stood up and she spoke up."
She is buried in the Birchwood Mausoleum at
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, where the legend inscribed on her vault reads: "Unbought and Unbossed".
Legacy
In February 2005, ''Shirley Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed'', a documentary film, aired on U.S public television. It chronicled Chisholm's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was directed and produced by independent African-American filmmaker Shola Lynch. The film was featured at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2004. On April 9, 2006, the film was announced as a winner of a
Peabody Award.
In 2014, the first biography of Chisholm for an adult audience was published, ''Shirley Chisholm: Catalyst for Change'', by Brooklyn College history professor Barbara Winslow, who was also the founder and first director of the Shirley Chisholm Project. Until then, only several juvenile biographies had appeared.
[Winslow, ''Shirley Chisholm'', p. 153.]
Chisholm's speech "For the Equal Rights Amendment", given in 1970, is listed as number 91 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century (listed by rank).
Monuments
The Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women's Activism (formerly known as the Shirley Chisholm Center for Research) exists at Brooklyn College to promote research projects and programs on women and to preserve the legacy of Chisholm. The Chisholm Project also houses an archive as part of the Chisholm Papers in the college library Special Collections.
In January 2018, Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
announced his intent to build the
Shirley Chisholm State Park
Shirley Chisholm State Park is a state park in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bound by Belt Parkway and Spring Creek Park to the north and Jamaica Bay to the south, situated atop the former Pennsylvania Avenue and Fountain Avenue L ...
, a
state park along of the Jamaica Bay coastline, adjoining the Pennsylvania Avenue and Fountain Avenue landfills south of
Spring Creek Park's
Gateway Center section. The state park was dedicated to Chisholm that September. The park opened to the public on July 2, 2019.
A memorial monument of Chisholm is planned for the entrance to
Prospect Park in Brooklyn by
Parkside Avenue station, designed by artists
Amanda Williams and
Olalekan Jeyifous Olalekan Jeyifous (born 1977), commonly known as Lek (pronounced "Lake"), is a Nigerian-born visual artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently a visiting lecturer at Cornell University, where he also received his Bachelor of Architecture in ...
.
Political
Chisholm's legacy came into renewed prominence during the
2008 Democratic presidential primaries
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African Ame ...
, when
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
staged their historic "firsts" battle – where the victor would either be the first major-party African-American nominee, or the first woman nominee – with at least one observer crediting Chisholm's 1972 campaign as having paved the way for both of them.
Chisholm has been a major influence on other women of color in politics, among them California Congresswoman
Barbara Lee
Barbara Jean Lee (née Tutt; born July 16, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . Now in her 12th term, Lee has served since 1998, and is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 9th ...
, who stated in a 2017 interview that Chisholm had a profound impact on her career. Lee had worked for Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign.
["Before Hillary Clinton, there was Shirley Chisholm"](_blank)
Rajini Vaidyanathan BBC News, Washington, January 26, 2016.
By the fiftieth anniversary of Chisholm entering Congress, ''The New York Times'' was headlining "2019 Belongs to Shirley Chisholm", saying that "Chisholm was a one-woman precursor to modern progressive politics" and that she was "enjoying a resurgence of interest 14 years after her death".
Chisholm has also inspired Vice President
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
, who recognized 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.
Harris launched her presidential campaign 47 years to the day after Chisholm's presidential campaign.
In popular culture
Actress
Uzo Aduba
Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an E ...
portrays Chisholm in the miniseries ''
Mrs. America'', released in April 2020, for which she won an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series.
In November 2020,
Danai Gurira
Danai Jekesai Gurira (; born February 14, 1978) is an American-Zimbabwean actress and playwright. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2012–2020, 2022) and as Okoye in th ...
was cast as Shirley Chisholm in ''The Fighting Shirley Chisholm'', a film about Chisholm's 1972 run for president. The film will be directed by
Cherien Dabis
Cherien Dabis (born 1976) ( ar, شيرين دعيبس) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of ''Variety'' magazine's ''10 Directors to Watch'' in 2009, and in 2022 was nominated for the Outstanding Dir ...
.
Another Shirley Chisholm film was announced in February 2021, with
Regina King starring as Chisholm and
John Ridley
John Ridley IV (born 1965) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for '' 12 Years a Slave'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the a ...
directing. The film will be distributed by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
, and
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020) ...
,
Lucas Hedges
Lucas Hedges (born December 12, 1996) is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's com ...
, Amirah Vahn,
André Holland
André Holland (born December 28, 1979) is an American actor, widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film '' Moonlight''.
Throughout his career, Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre production ...
, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie,
Dorian Missick
Dorian Crossmond Missick is an American actor known for his role as Damian in the television series '' Six Degrees'' (2006) and for voicing Victor Vance in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories''. He is also known for his starring ...
,
W. Earl Brown
William Earl Brown (born September 7, 1963) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, musician, and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Kenneth "Kenny" Brown in the film ''Scream (1996 film), Scream'' (1996), Warren in the ...
and
Terrence Howard
Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...
are also star.
Honors and awards
American honors
*
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
(posthumously awarded) by
President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
at a ceremony in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
.
[Phil Helsel �]
"Obama honoring Spielberg, Streisand and more with medal of freedom,"
''NBC News'', November 24, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015 – November 2015.
Honorary degrees
* In 1974, Chisholm was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by
Aquinas College and was their commencement speaker.
* In 1975, Chisholm was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by
Smith College.
* In 1996, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by
Stetson University
Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...
, in Deland, Florida.
Other recognition
* In 1991, Chisholm was the commencement speaker at
East Stroudsburg University in
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
East Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Poconos region of the state. Originally known as "Dansbury", East Stroudsburg was renamed for geographic reasons when the Delaware, Lackawanna, and ...
, where she received the first-ever conferred honorary doctorate from the university. An annual ESU student award was created in her honor.
* In 1993, she was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame.
* In 2002, scholar
Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently professo ...
listed Shirley Chisholm on his list of ''
100 Greatest African Americans''.
* On January 31, 2014, the Shirley Chisholm
Forever Stamp was issued. It is the 37th stamp in the Black Heritage series of U.S. stamps.
*The Shirley Chisholm Living-Learning Community at
Mount Holyoke College in
South Hadley, Massachusetts is a residential hall floor where students of African descent can choose to live.
Books
Chisholm wrote two autobiographies:
*
**
*
See also
*
List of African-American United States representatives
The United States House of Representatives has had 156 elected African Americans, African-American members, of whom 150 have been representatives from U.S. states and 6 have been Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives, ...
*
Politics of New York City
The city government of New York City controls a budget of abou$78.3 billion a year, as of 2016 Officials receive municipal funding for their campaigns, and are elected for a maximum of two terms. City government is dominated by the Democratic Par ...
*
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
*
Women in the United States House of Representatives
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber, since the 1916 election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Con ...
Explanatory notes
Citations
General and cited references
*
*
; Attribution
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Finding Aid for the Shirley Chisholm '72 Collectionheld by the Brooklyn College Library Archives and Special Collections
*
Shirley Chisholm's oral historyVideo excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
Shirley Chisholm at the National Women's History Museum
''Chisholm '72 – Unbought & Unbossed'' PBS American Documentary , POVdocumentary by Shola Lynch
''Chisholm '72 – Unbought & Unbossed'' Women Make Moviesdocumentary by Shola Lynch
Feature on Shirley Chisholm with writing from Gloria Steinem and video clips from ''Chisholm '72 Unbought & Unbossed'', by the
International Museum of Women.
*
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, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Shirley
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