[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 4, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E29]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING REPRESENTATIVE SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 4, 2005

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay honor to Representative Shirley 
Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and a candidate for 
the presidency in 1972, and who passed away on Saturday in Florida at 
the age of 80. Representative Chisholm was elected to Congress in 1968 
and served until 1982. During her seven terms, she was an outspoken 
advocate for women and minorities and a riveting speaker who often 
called on Congress to be more responsive to the public.
  During her first term in Congress, Representative Chisholm hired an 
all-female staff and spoke out for civil rights, women's rights, the 
poor, and against the Vietnam War. Throughout her tenure, she was a 
sought-after public speaker. Representative Chisholm was a cofounder of 
the National Organization for Women, the Congressional Black Caucus, 
and the National Women's Political Caucus. She was also the first black 
person to conduct a large-scale campaign for the presidency within the 
two-party system. As a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1972, 
Representative Chisholm won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the 
race. When her ideological opposite, George Wallace, was shot, she 
surprised many by visiting him in the hospital.
  Representative Chisholm was born Shirley Hill in New York on November 
20, 1924, the oldest of four daughters of a Guyanese father and a 
Barbadian mother, who scrimped to educate their children. 
Representative Chisholm lived on her maternal grandmother's farm in 
Barbados from age 3 to age 11, where she attended a British grammar 
school and picked up the clipped Caribbean accent that marked her 
speech. She went on to graduate cum laude from Brooklyn College and 
earn a master's degree from Columbia University. She began her career 
as the director of a day care center, then moved on to be an 
educational consultant for the New York City Bureau of Child Welfare. A 
long-time political activist, she became involved in Democratic 
politics and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1964. During 
her tenure in the legislature, she proposed a bill to provide State aid 
to day-care centers and voted to increase funding for schools on a per-
pupil basis.
  After leaving Congress, Representative Chisholm was named to the 
Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts 
and also served as a visiting scholar at Spelman College. She received 
many honorary degrees, and her awards include Alumna of the Year, 
Brooklyn College; Key Woman of the Year; Outstanding Work in the Field 
of Child Welfare; and Woman of Achievement. She is the author of two 
autobiographical works, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight 
(1973). Representative Chisholm was a pioneer in her time and her life 
should serve as an example of what can be accomplished if we have the 
courage and the strength to stand and fight for what we believe in. Her 
wit, wisdom, and leadership will be sorely missed.