History has forgotten the name of the first black to vote in America. Free Negro men had suffrage in some areas prior to the Civil War. Black women could not necessarily vote even after Emancipation and the 15th Amendment. (No woman could vote nationally until the 19th Amendment.) The first black man to vote following the 15th Amendment (which guarantees voting rights for people of color), was Thomas Peterson of New Jersey. He was a school custodian turned county commissioner, and cast his first ballot on March 31,1870. Each Year New Jersey celebrates that date as Thomas Mundy Peterson Day.
TOM TIEDE