Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Announcement

In honor of the 88th anniversary of the day that women first gained the right to vote, here's some YouTube video of Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968.

She was also the first African-American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for president and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969. She held her Congressional seat until she retired from Congress in 1982 and was succeeded by Major Owens.

Chisholm's campaign inspired a young African-American volunteer by the name of Barbara Lee to remain active in politics and eventually run for and win a congressional seat herself in California.



3 comments:

Unknown said...

The first time I voted was for Shirley Chisholm in the 1972 California primary. She would have been a great president.

Monica Roberts said...

Natasha,
I would've loved just having her as my congressmember.

But having Barbara Jordan represent you isn't bad either ;)

Jackie said...

Thanks for this video. Rep. Chisholm has quite a place in history.