For African-Americans and for women, Shirley Chisholm was a true trail blazer. Not only was she the first African-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, but she in 1972 became the first black Presidential candidate to have her name placed in nomination for the Presidency. Many would call it the nomination. She stood no chance of gaining the nomination and she readily admitted as much. But she waged as credible and dogged a run as any of her 12 other mail rivals and made a tremendous contribution. Not to mention, she won some delegates.
Chisholm being sworn-in as a member of the House (NBC photo)
Chisholm’s Presidential nomination may get overlooked in the history books, but her election to Congress broke a major barrier. She was the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress and she hired an all female staff, half of whom were black.
Chisholm, who went to school in Barbados, received her Masters in Education from Columbia and worked in a nursery school before going on to direct a child care center. and served in the New York State Assembly for four years. When she opted to seek a newly created Brooklyn Congressional seat in 1968, her slogan was “unbought and unbossed.” When she won, she said, “Just wait, there may be some fireworks.” She didn’t disappoint.
many of us Congressional scholars have heard the famous story of Chisholm’s assignment to the Forestry Committee of the House Agriculture Committee. Agriculture was about as important to Brooklyn as pizza was to Texas, and Chisholm was not amused. “Apparently all they know here in Washington about Brooklyn is that a tree grew there. Only nine black people have been elected to Congress, and those nine should be used as effectively as possible.” She slammed Wilbur Mills, who led the steering committee (ironically, he threw his hat into the ring in ’72 as well). Chisholm was eventually able to add Education and Labor to her other assignment, Veterans Affairs was her other assignment.
In ther House, Chisholm’s advocacy was on behalf of poor mothers and a bill she sponsored would have provided day care to mothers. The bill passed the House but was vetoed by President Nixon.
It was in late 1971 that Chisholm decided to go for the big prize. The fact that she was in the midst of her second House term took a back seat to the criticism, that unlike Barbara Jordan who had yet to be elected,, Chisholm wasn’t a major player on her committees. But her candidacy was meant to “to give a voice to the people the major candidates were ignoring.” In that vein, she hoped to excite the young voters and the ratification of the Amendment giving 18 year olds the right to vote would mean that there were plenty more to go around.
Still, Chisholm took part in the Presidential debates. On Vietnam, she wouldn’t negotiate for the release of POW’s because she felt it could delay the end of the war. She withheld a promise to support the eventual Presidential nominee because she said she wanted to “try to keep them honest at the convention.”
On the trail, Chisholm derided the “tired and glib cliches.” While acknowledging her odds were “hopeless,” she hoped to “demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” But she made clear she could do the job. “I could serve as President of this country, believe it or not.”
Florida was a major focus of her attention. But she had little money for professional staff and she finished with just three percent. But there was a little reward. Only Chisholm and ex-North Carolina governor (and later Senator) Terry Sanford had entered the New Jersey primary. Chisholm won, making her the first female to win any primary.
John Nichols of The Nation would write Chisholm’s run was dismissed from the start as a vanity campaign that would do nothing more than siphon votes off from better-known anti-war candidates such as South Dakota Senator George McGovern and New York City Mayor John Lindsay. They were not ready for a candidate who promised to “reshape our society,” and they accorded her few opportunities to prove herself in a campaign where all of the other contenders were white men.”
When George Wallace was shot, Chisholm went to visit him. She recounts him asking,
“what are your people going to say.” She replied I know what they’re going to say. But I wouldn’t want what happened to you to happen to anyone.’ He cried and cried and cried.”
Despite the fact that everyone knew Chisholm would not be the nominee (many openly hoped she could get the vice-presidential nod), she stayed in the race to the convention. She was hoping to play power broker of sorts. Eventually, Humphrey released his black delegates to Chisholm. And she got 151 delegates and had her name placed in nomination.
After her Presidential bid, Chisholm returned to the House with greater respect, and dove head first into her legislative responsibilities. There would be no more overlooking her with bad assignments. Now, she would have a seat on the coveted Rules committee. And she successfully passed a bill that extended the minimum wage to domestic workers. Chisholm was one of four founders of the Women’s Political Caucus (her New York colleague Bella Abzug was another). She noted she “had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black.”
Chisholm continued serving in Congress until 1982, when she decided to retire. “I had been so consumed by my life in politics,” she said. I had no time for privacy, no time for my husband, no time to play my beautiful grand piano. After he recovered, I decided to make some changes in my life. I truly believe God had a message for me.”
Chisholm would eventually move to Florida and die on New Year’s Day 2005 at 80. Robert Williams, president of the Flagler County NAACP called her “our Moses that opened the Red Sea for us.”
And as for Chisholm on ger own legacy: “I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself.” Most importantly, “I’d like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts.”