Who Was Shirley Chisholm?

A five-year-old girl who sailed from Brooklyn to Barbados to attend school
An ambitious politician who became the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress
The first Black person to run for president of the United States under a major political party

Read all about about the first Black woman to be elected to Congress in this empowering addition to the Who Was? series.

Shirley Chisholm showed interest in politics early on, majoring in sociology at Brooklyn College in New York City. During this time she was awarded for her debate skills, became a champion for inclusion in the Harriet Tubman society, and graduated cum laude. She dedicated much of her career to fighting for the rights of Black people and women, eventually becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968. Remarkably, Shirley represented New York’s 12th district, including the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, from 1969 to 1983. She fought for the rights of the people, becoming a founding member for the National Women’s Political Caucus and advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment. Learn all about Shirley’s life, from her early activism to her presidential candidacy and her lasting political legacy, in this illustrated biography.