Shirley Chisholm essays

Shirley Chisholm essays Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was born on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. Her Father, Charles St. Hill was an immigrant from French Guyana (now it is called Guyana) and her mother, Ruby (Seale) was an immigrant from Barbados. Charles was a factory worker and her mother was a seamstress and a mother to help provide for the family. Young couples had a hard time making ends meet, and in hope of saving some of their money, they sent their children back to the Caribbean. Shirley at 3 years old and her 2 younger sisters, Muriel and Odessa went to live with their grandmother in Barbados, where they stayed for 7 years. When Shirley returned to the U.S she was put into a class two years ahead, but in a year she caught up. When she graduated she was offered scholarships to Vassar and Oberilin colleges, but she enrolled in Brooklyn College because it wasnt costly. At college in the 1940s, Shirley majored in psychology and planned to become a teacher since teaching was the only thing profession open to black women. Shirley graduated with a B.A. with honors in 1946, then taught nursery school while studying for a masters degree in elementary education at Columbia University. During her college years she joined the Harriet Tubman society. In 1949she married a fellow Columbia student by the name of Conrad Chisholm, and she graduated with her M.A. In 1960 Shirley helped form the Unity Democratic Club to get more blacks to run for 17 Assembly District of New York State, and in 1964 she offered herself as a democratic candidate. She was chosen as the candidate. Shirley knew it would be hard but went to talk to people at street corners and neighborhood halls. Shirley won by a landslide. Shirley served the assembly for the next four years. She introduced more than fifty bills and two was passed. One was called the SEEK that helped kids to get to collage. The other was the first unemployment insurance program for work ...