Shirley Chisholm HerStory

Shirley Chisholm was an American politician who in 1968 became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional district, called Bedford-Stuyvesant, for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination and the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States.

Shirley started her career in early childhood education and became involved in local Democratic Party politics in the 1950s. In 1964, she was elected to the New York State Assembly, overcoming some resistance because she was a woman. 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 in 1983 and began teaching at Mount Holyoke College while still continuing her political organizing. She died in 2005 from a stroke. In 2015, Shirley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.