Princeton NJ Events Calendar

Token on the Freedman's Coat: The Story Behind Thomas Mundy Peterson's 1884 Voting Medal

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Thursday January 15, 2026
7:00 PM

Mercer County Library. www.mcl.org.

Thomas Mundy Peterson is celebrated as the first African American to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment. Gordon Bond, independent historian and publisher of NJ history website Garden State Legacy, will discuss the story of Peterson and how, on May 30, 1884, citizens of Perth Amboy, NJ, pinned a gold medal to his coat in honor of his having done something that, in another part of the nation, a noose might have been put around his neck for daring. Based on Bond's book, "To Cast a Freedman's Vote." Register for link to program.