Shirley Chisholm

In 1949, Chisholm married Conrad Chisholm, a private investigator who was also involved in local politics. The marriage lasted for about twenty-eight years before ending in divorce.

In 1978, she married a businessman, Arthur Hardwick, who died in 1986. At the age of eighty, she died in Florida, after suffering a series of strokes.

In college, she was influenced by Louis Warsoff, a blind political science professor who encouraged Chisholm to consider politics because of her “quick mind and debating skills”.

Shirley Chisholm, named Shirley Anita St. Hill at birth, was born to Charles Christopher St. Hill and Ruby Seale in Brooklyn, New York. Both her parents were immigrants. Her father was a factory worker from Guyana and her mother was a seamstress and a domestic worker.

When she was three years old, she was sent to her grandmother Ruby Seale in ‘Christ Church, Barbados’, so that she could receive a good education. There, she did her schooling in ‘Vauxhall Primary School’.

In 1934, she returned to her parents in New York and studied in ‘Girls’ High School’. After finishing her schooling, she did her BA from ‘Brooklyn College’.

Chisholm worked as a teacher in a Nursery school and also in a child-care centre. Simultaneously, she attended evening classes at ‘Columbia University’, pursuing an M.A. in elementary education, which she completed in 1952.

During this period, she became involved in various groups in college. She started to cultivate an interest in politics and began organizing and fund-raising.

Chisholm was the director of ‘Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center’ from 1953 to 1959. She became associated with the Democratic Party at this time and spoke out against the minimal role of women, African-Americans and the poor in politics.

She worked as an educational consultant at the ‘New York City Division of Day Care’ from 1959 to 1964. During this time she joined the ‘Unity Democratic Club’ that worked for the equal rights for black people. She was removed from the board of directors for speaking against the white leaders.

In 1964, her political career truly began as she successfully contested for the ‘New York State Assembly’. Throughout the four years, she served in the assembly she promoted 50 bills, out of which 8 were passed.

In 1968, buoyed by her successful tenure in the assembly, Chisholm ran for the Congress as a ‘Democratic Candidate’ and defeated Republican candidate James Farmer. Her campaign slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed”.

During her term from 1968 to 1972, she was initially assigned to the ‘Agriculture Department’. She asked to be reassigned because she wanted to help the poor people of her district. She was then assigned to the ‘Veterans’ Affairs committee’ and later to the ‘Education and Labor Committee’.

In 1971, Chisholm co-founded the ‘Congressional Black Caucus’, an organization consisting of African-American members of the Congress. It worked towards issues relevant to African-Americans and achieving their equality in the country.