Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, died on January 1, 2005. She was 80 years old.
Chisholm had an influential political career. In 1968, she was elected to Congress from New York City. She served until 1983, when she retired.
In 1972, Chisholm became the first black person to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination. She won 152 delegates. Jesse Jackson called her a "woman of great courage . . . who refused to accept the ordinary." Chisholm described her approach to life by saying, "You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining."