Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in Brooklyn in 1924 to West Indian parents. She graduated from Girls High School and Brooklyn College and later earned a master’s degree in education from Columbia University. After working as a day-care teacher, she became a supervisor of daycare centers for New York City. During the 1950s Chisholm entered Democratic politics and supported rising African American candidates. In 1964 she was elected to represent Bedford-Stuyvesant in the New York State Assembly. Four years later, she became the first African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Outspoken and independent, she campaigned with the slogan, “Fighting Shirley Chisholm—Unbought and Unbossed.” In the assembly and in Congress she championed the rights of women, children, and minorities and was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.