Shirley Chisholm Speaks Out

Worksheet Description

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to serve in Congress. After graduating from Brooklyn
College in 1946, she began teaching nursery school. She earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education
from Columbia University in 1951. In 1960, she became a consultant to the New York City Division of Day Care.
Acutely aware of the obstacles she faced as both a woman and an African American, she joined local chapters of the
League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Urban League. She also joined the Democratic Party club in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.