Cabinet card portrait of Thomas Mundy Peterson
date: label: Date
content: 1884
name: label: Photograph by
content: William R. Tobias, American, 1849 - 1920
label: Subject of
content: Thomas Peterson, American, 1824 - 1904
notes: label: Caption
content: On March 31, 1870, one day after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which allowed him the right to vote, Thomas Peterson became the first African American to cast a ballot in a U.S. election under the provisions of the 15th Amendment. The citizens of Perth Amboy, N.J. were voting to settle a disagreement over whether to revise the town charter or abandon it in favor of a township form of government.
label: Description
content: A cabinet card of Thomas Peterson. Peterson is looking at the camera and wearing a three-piece suit with a medal attached to the left side of the vest. The medal was presented to Peterson in 1884 by the residents of Perth Amboy, N.J. in recognition of his status as the first African American voter in the United States under the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment. The albumen print is attached to a stiff card backer with wear showing around the edges. There is a printed label on the verso that reads, "Inscription on the Medal. Presented by citizens of Perch Amboy, N.J., to Thomas Peterson, the first colored voter in the United States under the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment, at an election held in that city March 31st, 1870." The cabinet card was printed as a memento for the medal presentation ceremony.
place: label: Place made
content: Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Emancipation
label: Topic
content: Men
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
label: Topic
content: Suffrage
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.190
objectType: label: Type
content: cabinet photographs
label: Type
content: collodion prints
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: collodion and silver on printing-out paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 7 × 5 in. (17.8 × 12.7 cm)