Shirley Chisholm

The generation of civil rights activists who now serve in Congress follow in the footsteps of Shirley Chisholm, a bold and brash congresswoman who had little interest in abiding the whims of her seniors.

Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, won election to represent part of Brooklyn in 1968. She ran for president in 1972, against the wishes of more senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Her career was shaped by her confidence and outspokenness. She was the first Black woman and second woman ever on the influential House Rules Committee. 

“Her name is not on a lot of legislation but where she excelled was in turning votes into political influence, to push on the levers of power — to challenge the establishment —and to do what she always wanted to do, which was to give voice to previously underrepresented people,” said Matt Wasniewski, the U.S. House historian.

Chisholm had been a nursery school teacher, a day care center director and an educational consultant before taking up politics. Once in office, she championed education issues, including an increase in federal funding to extend day care facility hours and a national school lunch bill.

In 2015, President Obama awarded Chisholm the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a decade after her death. Her memorial at a cemetery in Buffalo recalls her campaign slogan: unbought and unbossed.

— Alex Gangitano