Born in 1924, Shirley Chisolm grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended Brooklyn College before earning her Masters degree at Columbia University. Her first step into politics was in a support role, as she helped campaigns for those she supported, and she was a member of the Brooklyn Democratic Clubs and the League of Women Voters. She first ran for a seat in the New York state assembly in 1964, and while she faced resistance she first won in the Democratic primary and then trounced her Republican and Liberal party opponents in the election. In 1968 she ran for U.S. House of Representatives serving New York’s 12th congressional district, and once again won in a landslide, making her the first Black woman ever in congress.
