Chisholm, Shirley (1924-2005)

US Democrat representative and social activist. The first black American woman elected to Congress, in 1969, she served until 1983. In 1982 she ran for the Democratic nomination for president. She was a champion of minority education and employment opportunities.

Although born in Brooklyn, New York City, the child of an immigrant from British Guiana (now Guyana), she spent her childhood in Barbados. A specialist in early-childhood education, she worked at the Mount Calvary Child Care Center 1946-52, before running her own nursery school. She later became director to the city of New York on day-care facilities. In Congress she campaigned successfully for the extension of employment protection to domestic workers, and fought to combat sexism and racism. Her autobiography, Unbought and Unbossed, was published in 1970 and The Good Fight in 1973. She was a member of staff at Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts 1983-87.