Who was the first African-American woman to seek a major political partys nomination for president?
A.: Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York (1924-2005), who four years earlier had become the first African-American woman elected to Congress, received 152 first-ballot votes at the 1972 Democratic convention in Miami Beach. Q.: Who was the first African-American (and also the first woman) to deliver a major party’s keynote address? A.: Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas at the 1976 Democratic convention in New York City. Her speech was ranked fifth in the “Top 100 American speeches of the 20th century” list. Some historians had regarded it as the best convention keynote speech in modern times until the 2004 keynote address by Barack Obama. Q.: How many national conventions have been held west of the Mississippi? A.: Altogether, there will have been 21, if you include the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver and the Republican convention in St. Paul. Q.: Which was the first convention to be held west of the Rocky Mountains? A.: The 1920 Democratic national convention in San Francisco. The delega
