{"id":2671,"date":"2023-12-22T19:56:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T00:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/?p=2671"},"modified":"2023-12-23T16:40:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-23T21:40:25","slug":"brooklyn-politicians-clara-cressingham-and-shirley-chisholm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/brooklyn-politicians-clara-cressingham-and-shirley-chisholm","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn politicians Clara Cressingham and Shirley Chisholm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brooklyn has raised some of the country’s most prominent female innovators, ranging from music stars like Barbara Streisand and Carole King to entertainment industry titans Judge Judy and Joan Rivers. Brooklyn women also left their mark in politics. They still continue to break down barriers, becoming the first to work in the New York City Council and to introduce state legislation in the United States. Read more about the first women politicians from Brooklyn whose legacy lives on today at brooklyn-yes<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clara Cressingham<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in Brooklyn, Clara Cressingham was one of the first women to serve in a legislative body in the US. After receiving an education in Brooklyn’s public schools, Cressingham discovered her talent for singing and public speaking. However, she worked as a dressmaker. At 20, the girl married U.S. Navy veteran William Cressingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple moved to Colorado, where she ran for the school board position. It was this event that made Clara interested in politics and pursue a career in it. At that time, a milestone event occurred. Colorado became the first state to grant women full voting rights after the 1893 referendum. As a result, Cressingham and two other women, Carrie S. Holly and Frances Klock were elected to the Colorado House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32-year-old Clara, the youngest of the female legislators, became the first woman to take up a leadership position in the state legislature. This happened when she was appointed secretary of the House Republicans. She was also the first female legislator in the state to sign a bill she had proposed to support the sugar beet industry. During her tenure, she pushed other laws as well. One of them promoted the creation of a free school system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shirley Chisholm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shirley Chisholm was one of the most famous female politicians in Brooklyn. She was also the first African American woman to work in the U.S. House of Representatives. Chisholm was born and raised in Brooklyn to a family of immigrants. The professors at Brooklyn College, where she studied, encouraged the girl to pursue politics. However, she believed she would not be able to engage in politics because of the fact that she has dark skin and is a woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only at 36, Chisholm joined local branches of political organizations<\/a> such as the League of Women Voters and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It was before she ran for the NY State Assembly, where she represented her district of Crown Heights for two years. Shirley, the second black woman to hold office in the state legislature, advocated for marginalized communities. She pushed for the abolition of literacy tests for immigrants and the increase of unemployment benefits for household employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presidential campaign<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1969, Chisholm successfully ran for Congress. Over 14 years, she fought to expand opportunities for underprivileged residents and fund social services. Shirley also spoke out against the Vietnam War. Chisholm hired only women in her office, half of whom were women of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shirley was a candidate for President of the United States from the Democrats in 1972. She was barred from participating in live initial debates and, after lawsuits, was only allowed to give one speech. Despite facing discrimination and a lack of funding during her presidential campaign, the Brooklyn pioneer remained one of the most influential women in the history of American politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn has raised some of the country’s most prominent female innovators, ranging from music stars like Barbara Streisand and Carole King to entertainment industry titans Judge Judy and Joan Rivers. Brooklyn women also left their mark in politics. They still continue to break down barriers, becoming the first to work in the New York City […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":291,"featured_media":2370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[497],"tags":[932,929,926,928,930,927,933,934,931],"moimportance":[101,104],"motype":[491],"moformat":[89],"class_list":{"0":"post-2671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-about-the-mayor","8":"tag-becoming-the-first-to-work-in-the-new-york-city-council-and-to-introduce-state-legislation-in-the-united-states-read-more-about-the-first-women-politicians-from-brooklyn-whose-legacy-lives","9":"tag-born-in-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-politicians-clara-cressingham-and-shirley-chisholm","11":"tag-clara-cressingham","12":"tag-clara-cressingham-was-one-of-the-first-women-to-serve-in-a-legislative-body-in-the-us-after-receiving-an-education-in-brooklyns-public-schools","13":"tag-presidential-campaign","14":"tag-shirley-chisholm","15":"tag-shirley-chisholm-was-one-of-the-most-famous-female-politicians-in-brooklyn","16":"tag-they-still-continue-to-break-down-barriers","17":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","18":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory","19":"motype-eternal","20":"moformat-vlasna"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2672,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions\/2672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brooklyn-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}