Women's History - Shirley Chisholm

"The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: It's a girl."
- Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm made history by becoming the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, representing New York's 12th District for seven terms. She also chartered new territory for African American women by being the first to make a bid for the presidency of the United States, receiving 152 delegate votes for the Democratic Party's nomination.

Shirley Chisholm worked on the formation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League together with her husband Conrad Chisholm. Ms. Chisholm also started the Unity Democratic Club, working to mobilize black and Hispanic voters.

Ms. Chisholm became a member of the New York State Legislature where she used the experience she gained when she worked as a manager for a child care center, to dramatically improve state assistance to daycare centers. In 1968, after being elected to Congress, Ms. Chisholm championed issues dealing with education and joined the Congressional Black Caucus as a founding member.

Ms. Chisholm gained a reputation for her strong voice, and successfully used it to demand reassignment away from a committee she believed unimportant to her district. The event helped establish the "unbought and unbossed" reputation she highlighted in campaigns. Soon she would rise to the Education and Labor Committee and become the third-ranking member.

With the support of the National Organization for Women, which she co-founded, she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, stating "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 am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or special interests. I am the candidate of the people."

For more biographies in celebration of women's history month, click here.