--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York - Twelfth District

Representative Shirley Chisholm stunned a number of people early in 1982 when she announced that after almost 15 years in Congress she would not seek another term because of her desire to return to "a more private life." Her retirement brought an end to a political career that found her as well known nationally as she was in her home district, which encompasses the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick sections of Brooklyn.
Her decision was not a sudden one. She had been considering such a move for over a year and conceded that the defeat of many liberal lawmakers in the 1980 election and what she considered a growing conservatism in the country had played a part in her decision. At her leaving, she was a member of the all-important House Rules Committee and secretary of the House Democratic Caucus. Hers was one of the loudest voices raised in protest against the Reagan Administration's cutback in domestic programs.

Chisholm became the first black woman to sit in the House of Representatives in 1969. Her opponent for the seat was James Farmer, once the leader of CORE and an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Farmer allegedly sought to create a whisper campaign around the theme that black women had already exercised far too much influence on the fate of black communities and on the development of black self-assertiveness, but the issue, if it had any relevance at all, did not sway much opinion. Members of the newly created predominantly black and Puerto Rican 12th Congressional District chose the dynamic Chisholm over Farmer by a more than 3-1 margin.

Chisholm originally entered public life in response to local pleas for an honest, conscientious public servant in the New York State Assembly. While there, she sponsored the SEEK program, which offers students from minority groups the opportunity to obtain college-level training even if they do not yet have high school diplomas. She also introduced legislation to establish publicly supported daycare centers and to extend unemployment insurance to domestic workers.

Chisholm's decision to run for higher office was based in part on the continued appeals of people of her district, whose problems she knew because she had chosen to remain in Bedford-Stuyvesant rather than move on the more affluent surroundings.

Born Shirley St. Hill in 1926, Representative Chisholm is descended from West Indian immigrant laborers (her mother was a seamstress from Barbados and her father, a native of British Guiana, worked in a burlap factory). One of three sisters, she was sent to Barbados at the age of three to live with other immediate family members while her parents struggled to save money for the girls' education. At age 11, Shirley returned to Brooklyn, attending grade school and high school before earning s scholarship to pursue higher education. A graduate of both Brooklyn College and Columbia University, holder of a masters in elementary education, Chisholm worked as a nursery school teacher, director of a daycare center, and consultant for the New York Department of Social Services before entering public life as a state representative in Albany.

After her election, Chisholm indicated her early preference for committee assignments which would reflect her interests and areas of expertise (education, labor management, and inner-city conditions in general) and take and take advantage of her experience in the social services. When saddled with a committee assignment in the area of agriculture, she openly balked at the idea, complaining out spokenly of the gross misuse of her talents.

In 1972, Representative Chisholm leaped to national prominence when she announced her candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination. She entered a large number of primaries and, though her share of the vote never exceeded 7%, she was regarded with the same respect as the white male candidates and was invited to join attempts to prevent the nomination of Senator McGovern.

However, Chisholm received only some 150 of 1,600 delegate votes at the Miami Convention, as a great many blacks supported McGovern or Senator Hubert Humphrey rather than Chisholm.

Chisholm was such a popular figure among her constituents that she won her seat in each election by substantial margins.