Campaign button from Shirley Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign
date: label: date made
content: c1972
label: associated date
content: 1972
name: label: referenced
content: Chisholm, Shirley
notes: label: Description
content: Her campaign slogan was, “unbought and unbossed.” The daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean, Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1968, the educator and member of the New York State Legislature ran for congress against a male opponent who argued that women had represented their Brooklyn district for too long and won. She became the first African American woman elected to Congress. As a member of the United States House of Representatives, she was a co-founder, and for the first two years the only woman member, of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1972, Chisholm decided to run for president partly because, she later wrote, “In this country everybody is supposed to be able to run for President, but that’s never been really true. I ran because most people think the country is not ready for a black candidate, not ready for a woman candidate.” She announced her long shot campaign, dubbed “The Chisholm Trail,” in January. "I have faith in the American people,” she declared in her presidential announcement speech. “I believe we are intelligent enough to recognize the talent, energy, and dedication which all Americans, including women and minorities, have to offer….I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I'm equally proud of that.... I'm the candidate of people of America.” George McGovern prevailed at the Democratic Convention to become the party’s presidential candidate, but Chisholm’s grassroots campaign energized democratic women, young people, and voters of color, and voters from the LGBTQ community and her delegates made her the first woman to have her name placed in nomination to be the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party (Margaret Chase Smith, senator from Maine, was the first for the Republican party in 1964).
topic: label: classified
content: Political Campaigns
label: related event
content: Presidential Campaign of 1972
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.0071.02
label: accession number
content: 2000.0071
label: catalog number
content: 2000.0071.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Button
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white, black, red (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/4 in; x 3.175 cm