In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.
She represented Brooklyn for seven terms. In 1972 she became the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s presidential nomination and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination.
Key Facts
- Lived: 1924 to 2005
- Elected to Congress from New York in 1968
- Ran for president in 1972
- Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015
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