This Women’s History Month: Shirley Chisholm

March is Women’s History Month! Prospect Park Alliance is celebrating the indelible impact women have had in Prospect Park and throughout our Brooklyn community, including the powerful legacy of Brooklyn trailblazer Shirley Chisholm. A fierce advocate for civil rights, Shirley Chisholm’s inspiring legacy is one of hope for women and the Black community in Brooklyn and beyond.

Chisholm was born 1924 to Barbadian parents in Brooklyn. After spending her childhood in Barbados, she returned to Brooklyn at age ten, living much of her life in Crown Heights, to the northeast of Prospect Park and blocks away from historic Weeksville. Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn Girls’ High and later from Brooklyn College. She initially worked as a nursery school teacher in Brooklyn and earned a master’s degree in early childhood education. By 1960, she was a consultant to the New York City Division of Daycare. Even before her time in congress, Shirley fought for racial and gender equality, joining local chapters of the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League, and the Democratic Party Club in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Chisholm was a leader and an advocate for residents of Brooklyn and the country at large.

In 1968, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Her standout achievements in Congress included working to expand access to food stamps, extending minimum wage requirements to domestic workers, and helping to pass Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits any sex-based discrimination in any government-funded school or education program. Chisholm introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and championed racial and gender equality throughout her time in congress. She was one of the founding members of the Black Caucus as well as one of the founding members of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, and became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee in 1977.

c. Pictorial Parade: Getty Images

Shirley Chisolm was one of the most visible and powerful members of Congress by 1972. That same year, Representative Chisholm became the first Black major-party candidate to run for President of the United States. True to her famous slogan, “unbought and unbossed,” Chisholm refused to abandon the interests of her constituents, no matter what establishment politicians did to intimidate her or mitigate her efforts. As Chisholm once said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.”

During Chisholm’s quest for the 1972 Democratic Party presidential nomination, she was blocked from participating in televised primary debates, and after taking legal action, was permitted to make just one speech. Her resilience prevailed and earned her the nickname “Fighting Shirley” after Chisholm entered 12 primaries and garnered 152 of the delegates’ votes despite the extensive discrimination she faced. Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983. She taught at Mount Holyoke College and co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women. Chisholm’s legacy lives on in her hometown of Brooklyn and far beyond, as she remains a national symbol of triumph and a true catalyst for change.

Two tributes to Chisholm and her legacy are coming to Brooklyn’s Backyard in the coming years. The Shirley Chisholm monument, commissioned through the She Built NYC Initiative through funding from the NYC Mayor’s office, will pay homage to Chisholm Plus, the Shirley Chisholm Pavillion made possible through funding from NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Brooklyn Delegation, led by Council Members Crystal Hudson, Rita Joseph, Shahana Hanif and former Council Majority Leader, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, will transform a former maintenance building into a space that honors Chisholm’s impact and complements the new monument.