Shirley Chisholm

Early life and education[edit]

Shirley Anita St. Hill was born to immigrant parents on November 30, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York City. She was of Afro-Guyanese and Afro-Barbadian descent.^[10] She had three younger sisters,^[11] two born within three years of her and one later.^[12] Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in British Guiana^[13] before moving to Barbados.^[12] He arrived in New York City via Antilla, Cuba, in 1923.^[13] Her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Christ Church, Barbados and arrived in New York City in 1921.^[14]


Charles St. Hill was a laborer who worked in a factory that made burlap bags and as a baker's helper. Ruby St. Hill was a skilled seamstress and domestic worker who experienced the difficulty of working outside the home while simultaneously raising her children.^[15][16] As a consequence, in November 1929, when Shirley turned five, she and her two sisters were sent to Barbados on the MS Vulcania to live with their maternal grandmother, Emaline Seale.^[16] Shirley later said, "Granny gave me strength, dignity, and love. I learned from an early age that I was somebody. I didn't need the black revolution to teach me that."^[17] Shirley and her sisters lived on their grandmother's farm in the Vauxhall village in Christ Church, where Shirley attended a one-room schoolhouse.^[18] She returned to the United States in 1934, arriving in New York on May 19 aboard the SS Nerissa.^[19] As a result of her time in Barbados, Shirley spoke with a West Indian accent throughout her life.^[11] In her 1970 autobiography, Unbought and Unbossed, she wrote: "Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason."^[20] In addition, she belonged to the Quaker Brethren sect found in the West Indies, and religion became important to her; however, later in life, she attended services in a Methodist church.^[21] As a result of her time on the island, and despite her U.S. birth, she always would consider herself a Barbadian American.^[22]


Beginning in 1939, she attended Girls' High School in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, a highly regarded, integrated school that attracted girls from throughout Brooklyn.^[23] She did well academically at Girls' High and was chosen to be vice president of the Junior Arista honor society.^[24] She was accepted at and offered scholarships to Vassar College and Oberlin College, but the family could not afford the room-and-board costs to go to either, so, instead, she selected Brooklyn College, where there was no charge for tuition and she could live at home and commute to the school.^[24]


She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1946, majoring in sociology and minoring in Spanish^[25] (a language that she would employ at times during her political career).^[26] She won prizes for her debating skills^[15] and graduated cum laude.^[27] During her time at Brooklyn College, she was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Harriet Tubman Society.^[28] As a member of the Harriet Tubman Society, she advocated for inclusion (specifically in terms of the integration of black soldiers in the military during World War II), the addition of courses that focused on African-American history and the involvement of more women in the student government.^[29] However, this was not her first introduction to activism or politics. Growing up, she was surrounded by politics, as her father was an avid supporter of Marcus Garvey's and a dedicated supporter of the rights of trade union members.^[29] She saw her community advocate for its rights as she witnessed the Barbados workers' and anti-colonial independence movements.^[29]


She met Conrad O. Chisholm in the late 1940s.^[30] He had migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1946, and he later became a private investigator who specialized in negligence-based lawsuits.^[31] They married in 1949 in a large West Indian-style wedding.^[31] She subsequently suffered two miscarriages, and, to their disappointment, the couple would have no children;^[32] although, in the view of scholar Julie Gallagher, it is possible that her career goals played a role in this outcome as well.^[33]: 395


After graduating from college, Chisholm began working as a teacher's aide at the Mt. Calvary Child Care Center in Harlem.^{[34][33]: 395} She would work at the center in a teaching role from 1946 to 1953.^[34][15] Meanwhile, she was furthering her education,^[15] attending classes at night and earning her Master of Arts in childhood education from Teachers College of Columbia University in 1951.^[34]