ABSTRACT
Shirley Chisholm's career in politics began when she joined the Seventeenth Assembly District (17AD) Democratic Club in Bedford-Stuyvesant while still in college. Party politics, and in Brooklyn this meant largely Democratic Party politics, worked through political clubhouses. By the time Chisholm began attending Democratic Party club political activities, the struggle for greater black representation in New York City and New York State politics was well under way. According to Chisholm, her early experiences in the 17AD Democratic Club made it clear that the club did not reflect the aspirations and struggles of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a community overwhelmingly African American. Chisholm provided pivotal leadership and mentoring for the women in the clubs. Chisholm was one of the leaders of the primary campaign. She threw herself into ringing doorbells, stuffing envelopes, raising money, knocking on doors, and going to community, church, and political meetings.
