Thomas Peterson-Mundy became the first African American to cast a ballot in the United States, one day after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, in Perth Amboy, N.J.
On May 30, 1884, he received a medal in commemoration of his courage to exercise his right of suffrage. The two-sided medal had an image of Abraham Lincoln and an inscription that read:
“Presented by citizens of Perth Amboy, N. J., to Thomas Peterson, the first colored voter in the United States under the Fifteenth Amendment, at an Election held in that city, March 31st, 1870.”
- Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist
History and proceedings attending the presentation of a medal to Thomas Peterson-Mundy, Decoration Day, May 30th, 1884, in the city of Perth Amboy, N.J.: in commemoration of his having been the first colored citizen in the United States to cast a vote under the Fifteenth Amendment. Perth Amboy, N.J.: The Middlesex County Democrat Print., 1884.











