"If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."

• ​U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
• FIRST Black woman elected to the United States Congress, as well as the FIRST to run for president
• Fought against racial-, gender-, and class-based injustice
• Daughter of immigrants from Barbados
• Member of the Debate Society, Harriet Tubman Society, and the Political Science Society in college
• Earned her master's degree in early childhood education from Columbia University
• Successfully ran for the NY State Assembly in 1964, and then won her seat in Congress in 1968
• Her congressional staff consisted almost entirely of women, many of whom were Black
• Worked with the twelve other Black members of Congress to establish the congressional Black Caucus
• Supported legislation that would expand women's rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment (written by Alice Paul)
• Officer of the National Organization for Women, cofounded the National Women's Political Caucus, and cofounded the National Political Congress of Black Women
• Ran for President in 1972, surviving three assassination attempts during her campaign
• Served in Congress until 1982, when she retired and taught at Mount Holyoke College and Spelman College
• Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993

Photo By Thomas J. O'Halloran, U.S. News & World Reports. Light restoration by Adam Cuerden [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Gallagher, Julie. "Chisholm, Shirley." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2008, 369-370.
Mitchell, Saundra. 50 Unbelievable Women and their Fascinating (and True!) Stories. New York: Puffin Books, 2016. Print.
Wilson, Jamia. Young, Gifted and Black. London: Quarto Publishing, 2018. Print.

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