Chisholm, Shirley

orig. Shirley Anita St. Hill

born Nov. 30, 1924, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.

died Jan. 1, 2005, Ormond Beach, Fla.

U.S. politician.

A graduate of Columbia University (M.A., 1952), she was a schoolteacher before becoming active in local politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968, she became the first African American woman to serve in Congress. During her 15 years in the House, she was known for her strong liberal views, including her opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and her advocacy of full-employment programs. She cofounded the National Women's Political Caucus. As a candidate for the Democratic Party's 1972 U.S. presidential nomination, she won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race.

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▪ American politician and activist

née  Shirley Anita St. Hill 

born November 30, 1924, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

died January 1, 2005, Ormond Beach, Florida

 American politician, the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

      Shirley St. Hill was the daughter of immigrants; her father was from British Guiana (now Guyana) and her mother from Barbados. She grew up in Barbados and in her native Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Brooklyn College (B.A., 1946). While teaching nursery school and serving as director of the Friends Day Nursery in Brooklyn, she studied elementary education at Columbia University (M.A., 1952) and married Conrad Q. Chisholm in 1949 (divorced 1977). An education consultant for New York City's day-care division, she was also active with community and political groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and her district's Unity Democratic Club. In 1964–68 she represented her Brooklyn district in the New York state legislature.

      In 1968 Chisholm was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating the civil rights leader James Farmer. In Congress she quickly became known as a strong liberal who opposed weapons development and the war in Vietnam and favoured full-employment proposals. As a candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president in 1972, she won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race.

      Chisholm, a founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, supported the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortions throughout her congressional career, which lasted from 1969 to 1983. She wrote the autobiographical works Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973).

      After her retirement from Congress, Chisholm remained active on the lecture circuit. She held the position of Purington Professor at Mount Holyoke College (1983–87) and was a visiting scholar at Spelman College (1985). In 1993 she was invited by President Bill Clinton to serve as ambassador to Jamaica but declined because of poor health.

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