Template:POTD/2026-10-06
Thomas Mundy Peterson (October 6, 1824 – February 4, 1904) was a resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, who has been claimed to be the first African American to vote in an election under the provisions of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. His vote was cast on March 31, 1870; the Amendment had been ratified almost two months earlier, on February 3, but was only officially certified by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish on March 30. To honor him as the first African-American voter after the passage of the 15th Amendment, in 1884, the citizens of Perth Amboy raised $70 ($2500 in 2024 dollars) to award him with a medal, consisting of a gold bar from which a medallion depicting Abraham Lincoln was hung. This photograph shows Peterson in 1884, wearing his medal.Photograph credit: William R. Tobias; restored by Adam Cuerden