02/23/2026
Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968. Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1924, and started becoming actively involved in politics in the 1950s. She campaigned and won a seat for NY in the House of Representatives in 1968 until 1983, and during that time she also served as the Secretary of the House for the Democratic Caucus.
After retiring from politics in 1983, Chisholm continued to champion injustices and the advancement of both the Black community and women. Her death in 2005 marked the passing of a great political leader, and she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
She wanted to be remembered as a "women who dared to be a catalyst of change"-- her legacy proves that.