Services have been scheduled for former Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), the first black woman elected to Congress, who died last week at the age of 80.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday Jan. 8 at the First A.M.E. Church in Palm Coast, Fla., located at 91 N. Old Kings Road.

A public viewing will be held between 9 a.m. and noon with the funeral service to follow between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Interment will be in New York City, preceded by a private family service. Chisholm represented a Brooklyn-based district in Congress.

In a joint “Dear Colleague” letter released today, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) praised Chisholm, calling her “an amazing and fearless leader” and “a shining example of a public servant who never wavered in her commitment to those she was elected to serve.”

A strong advocate of women’s and civil rights, Chisholm in 1968 became the first black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she became the first African-American to conduct a large-scale presidential campaign. After serving seven terms in the House, she retired in 1982 to care for her husband.

— Amy Keller