In the 19th century in the American South during Reconstruction, African Americans began to be elected to many local offices, such as sheriff or Justice of the Peace, and some became the first African-American mayors of cities and towns. After this brief period, African Americans found themselves unable to obtain mayoral offices due to racial discrimination. In the 1960s, they again began to be elected or appointed to mayoral positions following the achievements of the civil rights movement and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Achievements in African Americans being elected mayor in majority-European American and other municipalities made their political participation one of daily life in many localities.

First African American elected mayor of a U.S. town: Pierre Caliste Landry, Donaldsonville, Louisiana [1]

First African-American mayor of Maryville, Tennessee: W. B. Scott[2]

First African-American mayor of a predominantly white U.S. town, and of a Western U.S. town: Edward Duplex, Wheatland, California [3]

First African American mayor of a U.S. city: George D. Carroll, Richmond, California

First African-American mayor of a U.S. city: Robert C. Henry, Springfield, Ohio (appointed by city commission)

First African- American mayor of a U.S. city: Floyd J. McCree, Flint, Michigan

First Elected (1967) African American mayor of a large U.S. city: Richard G. Hatcher, Gary, Indiana [4]

First African American mayor of a large U.S. city: Carl Stokes (Cleveland, Ohio)

First African American appointed mayor of Washington, D.C.: Walter Washington (see also: 1975)

First African American elected mayor of Ypsilanti, Michigan: John Burton [5]

First African American elected Mayor of Montclair, New Jersey: Matthew G. Carter [6]

First African American mayor of a Kentucky city: Luska Twyman, Glasgow, Kentucky

First African American elected mayor of a predominantly white southern city: Howard Nathaniel Lee, Chapel Hill, North Carolina [7]

First African American elected mayor of a