Shirley Chisholm: a true Pioneer
She Became first African-American Woman To Run for the Presidency
Jan 4, 2008
The advent of each presidential race brings to mind the memory and legacy of Shirley Chisholm, who ran her own ground-breaking presidential campaign in 1972.
In becoming the first African-American woman to run for the presidency, Chisholm continued her trail-blazing path that took her to the New York Legislature and the United States House of Representatives.
As the first African-American woman elected to Congress, Chisholm championed the rights of women, children and minorities. It was the same message she carried in her bid to win the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination.
Her grass-roots campaign earned her 151 delegate votes, as she outlasted more well-financed candidates such as Maine Senator Edmund Muskie and Washington Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson. It also further enhanced her reputation as a woman ahead of her times.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924 of a father from British Guiana and a mother from Barbados, Chisholm was sent to Barbados at an early age where she received her formative education.
She fought racism at Brooklyn College to graduate with honors in 1946. She later received a master’s degree in child education from Columbia University.
Shortly after leaving Brooklyn College, Chisholm began working in a day care and involving herself in politics, a combination which stood her well in her future endeavors.
She served in the New York General Assembly from 1964-68, and in 1968 she became the first African-American woman elected to Congress when she defeated James Farmer, the former national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. She went on to serve seven terms in office before stepping down in 1982.
Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign rankled the establishment, particularly when she refused to reject the endorsement of the Black Panthers.
She had to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in order to participate in a televised debate with eventual Democratic nominee George McGovern and former vice president Hubert Humphrey.
When Alabama governor and independent candidate George Wallace was shot by a would-be assassin, Chisholm came to Wallace’s hospital room to offer her sympathy and concern to the long-time civil rights foe. It was typical of her care and compassion for all people.
Even upon retirement from Congress, Chisholm remained an active political figure. She was important to Jesse Jackson in his presidential campaigns during the 1980s and created and chaired the National Political Congress of Black Women. She also served on NOW’s advisory council.
Chisholm, who married twice but had no children, died in 2005 in Daytona Beach, Fla., at the age of 80.
