For this week’s blog post I’m going to discuss the triumphant and impactful life of Shirley Chisholm.
Chisholm was born on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. She was the eldest daughter [of four] to immigrant parents. Her father was Charles St. Hill, a factory worker from Barbados, and her mother was Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados.
While living in New York her father took on two jobs, working in a burlap bag factor and as a baker’s helper. Her mother continued to worker as a seamstress, dabbling in other types of domestic work as well. However, being so incredibly hardworking made raising four children quite difficult. So [when she was around 5] her parents made the decision to send Chisholm and her sisters to Barbados to live with their grandmother, Emaline Seale. Chisholm spent quite a bit of her childhood in Barbados, returning in 1934. Life in Barbados had quite an impact on her and she has stated numerous time that she would always consider herself a Barbadian American.
In 1939, she started attending the Girls’ High School in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The school had a great reputation and was also integrated. Chisholm perfumed quite well academically. In fact, she was offered scholarships to several highly selective colleges, including Vassar College and Oberlin College. Unfortunately, however, her family could not afford either school–even with the help of scholarships.
Subsequently she ended up attending Brooklyn College in 1942, where she would end up graduating cum laude [with a degree in sociology and Spanish] in 1946. She also managed to win a multitude of prizes on the college’s debate team. Her talent for debate and discourse was so noticeable that several professors advised her to pursue a career in politics. Despite their advice, she believed that a career in politics would be impossible, as she “faced a ‘double handicap,'” being both African American and a woman.
So, instead, she took a job as a nursery school teacher, following graduation. In terms of her personal life, she got married to Conrad Q. Chisholm, a private investigator, in 1949 at the age of 25. [The couple would later divorce in 1977]. Eventually, she also went back to school to earn her master’s degree. She graduated from Columbia University with a master’s in early childhood education in 1951. She continued to work in this field, and by 1960 she had earned a position as a consultant to the NYC Division of Day Care. Simultaneously she was engaging in a number of social causes–specifically this in relation to racial and gender inequality. She was a member of local chapters of the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the Urban League, and the Democratic Party.
As a member of the Unity Democratic Club (UDC), she campaigned for Thomas R. Jones, who was running for an assembly seat in 1960. Jones lost in 1960, but ended up running again and winning two years later [making him Brooklyn’s second black assemblyman]. When his term was up, Jones chose to accept a judicial appointment rather than run for reelection. After much consideration, Chisholm decided to run for his seat in the New York State assembly in 1964. Throughout her campaign she faced a great deal of backlash for both her gender and her race–even the UDC was hesitant to support a female candidate. Eventually she decided that she would have to appeal directly to female voters, using her role as the president of the Brooklyn brand of Key Women of America to garner support from other women voters. After a great deal of work she managed to win the Democratic primary in June of 1964, and eventually she won the seat by a great margin.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Charles Gorry/AP/Shutterstock (6648939a)Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), poses on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, with material she plans to use in a speech before House colleagues
Shirley Chisholm, Washington, USA
She served as a member of the New York State Assembly for 3 years [1965 to 1968]. However, in 1968, court-ordered redistricting ended up creating a new highly Democratic district in her neighborhood. This restricting enabled her to run for, and win, a seat in Congress in 1968. While working in Congress she earned the nickname “Fighting Shirley” because she introduced and advocated for over 50 pieces of legislation. She was also championed a number of important causes, including racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and ending the war in Vietnam. Similarly, she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. 6 years later, in 1977, she would also become the second woman and first Black woman to serve on the House Rules Committee. That same year she also got divorced and remarried to Arthur Hardwick Jr., who was a New York State legislator.
In 1972, she formally announced her candidacy for President of the United States. While campaigning to be the Democratic Party’s nominee, she faced a massive amount of discrimination. She wasn’t allowed to participate in televised primary debates. She attempted to counter this ban by taking legal action, but in the end she was only given the opportunity to make a single speech. Regardless of the discrimination she faced, students, women, and countless minority groups supported her. Over the course of the 12 primaries that she entered, she received 152 of the delegates’ votes [10% of the total]. In the end, she lost but it was still a tremendous feat for her to do as well as she did [or to even simply enter the race] given the discrimination that faced her.
After her loss, she continued to serve in Congress. She only just retired in 1983. Following retirement, she went on to teach at Mount Holyoke College. She also co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women. In 1991, she moved to Florida, declining a nomination to be the US Ambassador to Jamaica on account of health reasons. Unfortunately she passed away in 2005–her legacy, however, lives on. She was a trailblazer for racial equality and women’s rights. Her dedication and hard work is beyond admirable. I firmly believe that she is someone who has a tremendous impact on our society, and she deserves to be recognized for that.
This is another great and admirable story that you shared. I have never learned about Shirley Chisholm before, but I am amazed at her courage, drive, and tremendous impact that she has had on society, especially for women and people of color. She did not let racial and gender discrimination keep her from pursuing her career goals and was extremely successful, and she taught many others to do the same. Her story is truly inspiring, and I can’t wait to read another great story next week!
Hi! I really enjoyed this post and reading about Shirley Chisholm. I can’t believe how may important people my history classes never taught about, and I really wish I learned about her sooner. The impact she made for women’s rights and and for people of color is truly impressive! She didn’t let fear or boundaries stop her and she fought for her beliefs. As always, I think this was really well written and I love how you included so many pictures. Great post and I’m looking forward to next weeks post!