Thomas Mundy Peterson Day

In 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the first African American to vote in the United States. He did so at Perth Amboy City Hall in New Jersey—the oldest city hall still in use in the country.

Following its ratification by the requisite three-fourths of the states, the 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote, was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution ensuring that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” On March 31, 1870, one day after it was adopted, Thomas Peterson Mundy of Perth Amboy, New Jersey became the first African American to vote under the authority of this new law.