Portrait of Shirley Chisholm, 2008, U.S. House of Representatives
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Shirley Chisholm was a pioneering late 20th century African American politician. Chisholm started out her professional career as a teacher, but in 1968 she ran for a House seat in New York and won, becoming the first African-American to be elected to Congress. Chisholm went on to serve seven terms in the House and form the Black Caucus. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, making history again as the first African American woman to seek the presidency. By the time she retired, Shirley Chisholm had helped blaze a trail for dozens of more African Americans to follow her into politics.
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