11/30/2024
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Join us in celebrating the political trailblazer and beloved daughter of Brooklyn, who would have turned 100 today. Born November 30, 1924, in Bedford-Stuyvesant to parents of Bajan and Guyanese descent, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
1. Chisholm addresses a theater audience at the Melvin Van Peebles play “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” in 1972, weeks before formally announcing her presidential bid. To her right is actor Ossie Davis. (Ron Frehm/Associated Press)
2. On the campaign trail in 1972. (Mike Lien/The New York Times)
3. Speaking at a demonstration in Union Square in 1972 to uphold reproductive choice in New York. After New York became the second state to legalize abortion, lawmakers attempted to repeal the law. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller vetoed the repeal. (Bettye Lane)
4. Chisholm rides the subway in 1977 with second husband Arthur Hardwick, Jr. days before their wedding. They’d met a decade earlier when both were legislators in the New York State Assembly and remained married until Hardwick’s passing in 1986. (New York Daily News)
5. In 1977, Chisholm became the first Black woman to serve on the influential House Rules Committee. (National Archives)
6. Chisholm was among the 12 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971. Among other legislative highlights, she drove the creation of the WIC program and supported research into clean wind power. (Congressional Black Caucus)
7. Speaking at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. (Warren K. Leffler)
8. Supporters cheer for Chisholm as she addresses the DNC. She received 151 delegates, coming in 4th place for the party. (Jo Freeman)
9. After retiring from Congress, Chisholm (whose career started in education) taught at Mount Holyoke, a Massachusetts women’s college. Her courses included Urban Sociology and The Black Woman in America.
10. A mural at in Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn. The 407-acre park features hiking and biking trails, waterfront views and wildlife habitats. (Black-Owned Brooklyn)