Shirley Chisholm was born #OTD in 1924
Chisholm became the first Black woman in Congress (1968) and both the first woman and first Black to seek the presidential nomination from a major political party (1972).
President Ford signs the proclamation for Womenâs Equality Day 1974, with representatives including Shirley Chisholm, far right. NARA IDÂ 12082600
President Nixon meets with the Black Caucus, including Shirley Chisholm, third from L, 3/25/71 NARA ID 7822054.
President Clinton greets Shirley Chisholm, Ambassador-Designate to Jamaica, Image by Robert McNeely. 7/30/1993, NARA IDÂ 2842929.
Shirley Chisholm âUnbought and unbossedâ
By Dena Lombardo, Intern, Office of Public and Media Communications.
Shirley Chisholm once said, âif they donât give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.â
Chisholm was a teacher, a co-founder of Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn, an early member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), an active member of the NAACP, and a trailblazer.
In 1968, she became the first black congresswoman elected to the House of Representatives to represent New York State. She then ran for president in 1972, becoming first black person to seek the presidential nomination from one of the two major parties. Â She was the first black person and the first woman to run for the Democratic Partyâs presidential nomination. She was also the first woman to participate in a U.S. presidential debate.
Her campaign slogan, âunbought and unbossed,â emphasized her strength and independence. Â
Given Chisholmâs opposition to the Vietnam War, she faced opposition from outside and within the Democratic establishment. Many viewed her as a symbol, not a serious political candidate. Â Chisholm said that she faced more discrimination being as woman than for being black.
She won 152 delegates before she withdrew from the race.
In her book The Good Fight, Chisholm declared, âI ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo⊠The next time a woman runs, or a Black, a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is ânot readyâ to elect to its highest office, I believe that he or she will be taken seriously from the start.â
Chisholm retired to Florida in 1991. In 1993, President Clinton nominated her to be United States Ambassador to Jamaica, but she declined the nomination due to illness.
In 1993 Chisholm was inducted into the National Womenâs Hall of Fame, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2015..
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