About This Stamp
The 37th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first black woman ever elected to Congress. An outspoken politician who shattered barriers of race and gender in the 1960s and 1970s, Chisholm ran for president in 1972, becoming the first African American and only the second woman to seek the nomination of a major political party. She later wrote of her unsuccessful bid, “The next time a woman runs, or a black, or a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is ‘not ready’ to elect to its highest office, I believe that he or she will be taken seriously from the start… I ran because somebody had to do it first.”
Born Shirley Anita St. Hill in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1924, the future politician was the child of Caribbean immigrants. Her mother was a seamstress from Barbados, and her father was a factory worker from Guyana. She spent part of her childhood in Barbados with her maternal grandmother, where she attended strict, traditional, British-style schools. A talented student, St. Hill graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946 and began work in early childhood education. She advanced quickly from a teacher’s aide to a consultant for New York City’s Division of Day Care. While pursuing a graduate degree at Columbia University, she met and married Conrad Chisholm. All the while, she stayed involved in local politics. In 1964, Chisholm’s political career took off in earnest with her election to the New York State Assembly.
In 1968, Chisholm ran for Congress. She campaigned in her Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood with a sound truck that announced, “Ladies and gentlemen… this is fighting Shirley Chisholm.” A maverick who was not beholden to the traditional Democratic party machinery, Chisholm’s campaign motto was “Unbought and Unbossed.” She won the election and entered Congress in 1969, the first black woman ever to do so. Regarding her historic win, Chisholm later remarked, “That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free."
Chisholm scored another historic first in 1972 when she declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President, becoming the first African American to seek the nomination of a major political party. Despite paltry financial resources, Chisholm’s enthusiastic supporters, who included women, minorities, and young people, got her on the ballot in fourteen states. She received more than 150 delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention before George McGovern won the party’s nomination.
Chisholm served in Congress until January 1983. She continued to speak out for the rights of women, people of color, and the poor, fighting for legislation to support daycare centers and provide federal aid for education. She was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women’s Political Caucus. After retiring from politics, Chisholm taught at Mount Holyoke College, wrote, and lectured. She died on January 1, 2005, having already spoken of her legacy. "I'd like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts," she said. "That's how I'd like to be remembered."
The Shirley Chisholm stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce rate.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.