Shirley Chisholm: A Brooklyn Life

FAIN: GI-297129-24

Museum of the City of New York, Inc. (New York, NY 10029-5221)
Sarah M. Henry (Project Director: August 2023 to present)

Implementation of a one-year temporary exhibition, public programs, and curriculum about the life and legacy of Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005).

In 2024, to mark the centennial of her birth and a national election year, the Museum of the City of New York and the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism will present Shirley Chisholm: A Brooklyn Life, an exhibition on Chisholm tracing her early life in Brooklyn, path-breaking political career, and lasting legacy. In 1968, Shirley Chisholm emerged as a singular figure in national politics as the first Black woman elected to Congress and then, in 1972, the first woman to run for president on a major party ticket. The exhibition will explore the depth of her role not just as a catalyst for change among the political establishment and a bold inspiration for subsequent generations, but as a product of New York communities and networks.