Who was the first black woman in politics?
Asked by: Tressie Cartwright | Last update: December 17, 2025Score: 4.6/5 (41 votes)
02/19/2021 - 10 a.m. - 03/19/2021 - 05:30 p.m. In 1969, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to serve in Congress, or, as she preferred, the "first black woman congressman." She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and the Congressional Women's Caucus in 1977.
Who was the first black female politician?
Shirley Anita Chisholm (/ˈtʃɪzəm/ CHIZ-əm; née St. Hill; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.
Who was the first black lady to run for president?
Shirley Chisholm, the FIRST Black Woman to run for President in the US - Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.
Who was the first woman to enter politics?
Jeannette Rankin. No history of American representative government could properly be written without a major reference to Representative Jeannette Rankin. The Montana Republican carries the distinction of being the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. That singular event occurred in 1916.
When was the first black female senator elected?
In 1993 Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois became the first African American woman to be elected to the Senate. To date, 11 African Americans have served as U.S. senators. In 2021 California senator Kamala D.
Influential Black women in politics
Who was the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968 I continued to serve until 1983?
#OnThisDay in 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress. The Brooklyn, New York native represented New York's 12th congressional district for 7 terms from 1969 to 1983. Learn more on our Searchable Museum: https://s.si. edu/4fyX1sq.
Who is the first lady female president?
Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson. The first woman President was born in 1872, and her name was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. She hightailed her way out of Appalachian poverty and into the highest echelons of American power.
Who was the first black woman to serve as the U.S. Secretary of State?
Condoleezza Rice was nominated for Secretary of State by George W. Bush on November 14, 2004, and assumed office on January 26, 2005. She served for four years, leaving the position on January 20, 2009. She was the first African-American woman to serve as Secretary of State.
Who was the first female elected as US senator?
That happened on November 21, 1922, the day after this photo was taken. Appointed in 1931 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of her husband, Arkansas Democrat Hattie Caraway became the first woman elected to the Senate after winning the special election for the remainder of her husband's term.
Who was the first black leading lady?
Starring in the seminal musical with an all-Black cast, CARMEN JONES (1954), Dandridge became the first African American performer to be nominated for a leading role with a Best Actress Oscar® nomination, and several years later she was honored with a Golden Globe nomination for her titular role in PORGY AND BESS (1959 ...
Who is the black lady that speaks for the president?
On November 29, 2020, the Biden-Harris transition team announced that Jean-Pierre had been made Principal Deputy Press Secretary. On May 26, 2021, she gave her first White House press briefing, becoming the first openly LGBTQ person to do so and the first Black woman to do so since 1991.
Which president did not have a first lady?
Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Chester A. Arthur, and Martin Van Buren were widowed prior to becoming president and remained unmarried during their administration; in these cases, family members acted in the place of First Lady and White House host.
Who is the most influential black woman today?
Kamala Harris: First Black, First South Asian American, And First Woman Vice President.
Who is the first African female president?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. James T. Phillips Jr.
Who was the first black woman in Congress?
02/19/2021 - 10 a.m. - 03/19/2021 - 05:30 p.m. In 1969, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to serve in Congress, or, as she preferred, the "first black woman congressman." She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and the Congressional Women's Caucus in 1977.
What percentage of the U.S. population is black female?
Black women are 7.8% of the total U.S. population and 15.4% of the U.S. population of women, according to the U.S. Census. Using these data to compare to percentages reported on this page should account for differences between U.S. Census and CAWP categorizations.
Has there ever been a black female governor?
As of 2025, 18 states have never had a female governor: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
What President had two wives?
Presidents John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson had two official first ladies; both remarried during their presidential tenures.
Who was the most unpopular First Lady?
Trump finished her tenure in 2021 as the least popular first lady ever polled, according to polling by CNN, SRSS, and Gallup. Her final approval rating was 42%, and her final disapproval rating was 47%; she was the only first lady who finished with a net disapproval rating.
Who was the first Black U.S. congressman?
The first African-American Members, Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina and Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi, were elected to office in 1870. They, along with the African-American Members who joined them a few years later, worked hard to pass laws making all men, regardless of their race, equal.
Who was the first female and African American to serve on the Supreme Court?
As the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says her appointment to the court "demonstrates progress." "I'm the first Black woman ... but not the first Black woman who could have done this job," she tells PBS News' Geoff Bennett.
Who was the first woman to run for President?
Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to formally run for president. She announced her candidacy in a letter to the New York Herald and was nominated by the national convention of the Equal Rights Party for the 1872 election.