Photograph of the Rules Committee, 95th Congress, ca. In 1977, Shirley Chisholm made history again when she became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the conditions for debating legislative bills on the floor of the House of Representatives. She accepted the change, remarking “there are a lot more veterans in my district than trees.” As a freshman member, Chisholm did not hesitate to speak up and-when needed-make herself heard.Īs a Representative for Brooklyn, New York, she vigorously appealed her appointment to the Committee on Agriculture and persisted until she was reassigned to the Veterans Affairs Committee. When Shirley Chisholm took her oath of office on January 21, 1969, she was the only new woman to enter Congress that term and just one of nine African American members in the House of Representatives. who dared to be a catalyst of change." Shirley Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, at age 80. Fully aware of her place in history as a barrier-breaker, Chisholm hoped instead "to be remembered as a woman.
Chisholm was also the first woman and the first African American to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972.ĭuring her seven Congressional terms, “Fighting Shirley” was an outspoken champion for economic justice and racial and gender equality. Shola Lynch - 2004 - In 1968, Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.
In 1969, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to serve in Congress, or, as she preferred, the "first black woman congressman." She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and the Congressional Women's Caucus in 1977.
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