Douglas Palmer, the first Black mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, was born Douglas Harold Palmer on October 19, 1951, in the city, to George H. Palmer, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and Dorothy Vaughn Palmer from Trenton. Douglas’s sibling is Karen Palmer Richardson.
Palmer’s early education began in public grade school in the West Ward but he graduated from Bordentown Military Institute in Bordentown, New Jersey, in 1969. He then enrolled in the HBCU Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where he excelled in both football and baseball, serving as co-captain of the Pirates CIAA championship team in 1972. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management in 1973 and became a member of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Incorporated. Palmer received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management in 1973.
In 1981, Palmer won the countywide office of Mercer freeholder, filling out the one-year, unexpired term created when Freeholder John Watson of Ewing, the first Black on the freeholder board, won a seat in the state assembly.
In 1990, Palmer became the first African American mayor after narrowly defeating the incumbent, Mayor Carmen Armenti, by less than 300 votes out of 25,500 cast on Election Day. The election was marred by controversy, with questions raised about the presence of off-duty police officers who were supporters of Mayor Armenti, at polling places in Trenton’s Black neighborhoods. Palmer continued to be re-elected, winning by 73 percent in 2002. During this period, he also served on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and from 2003 to 2006, he was President of both the National Democratic Conference of Mayors and the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.
Palmer left the mayor position in 2010; during his tenure, more than 5,000 new, decent, affordable housing units were built for thousands of families, most owning their homes for the first time. He was instrumental in creating the city’s first hotel conference center and designed projects for local businesses to receive more city contracts. In addition, he won the city’s first national “City Livability Award,” a prestigious award given annually by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to recognize mayors for exemplary leadership in the development of effective programs that improve the quality of life in their cities such as improved healthcare for children, seniors and economically challenged. During his tenure crime dropped 27 percent but his administration also exceeded its budget during his last term by $6 million.
In 2012, Palmer began serving as a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is married to Christiana Foglio, a community investment strategist, and a Rutgers University graduate. They are the parents of Laila Rose Palmer.
While mayor Palmer was a member of the bipartisan group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. He is also a recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from Hampton University and Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and the Peace Medal Award from the State of Israel. He was inducted into the Hampton University Hall of Fame, and in 2024, the Trenton City Hall annex was officially renamed the Douglas H. Palmer Annex in his honor.
Do you find this information helpful? A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone.
BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Your donation is fully tax-deductible.
Christine Barrington, “Unheard Voices with Douglas H. Palmer, Former Mayor of Trenton, NJ,” https://ksqd.org/unheard-voices-with-douglas-h-palmer-former-mayor-of-trenton-nj/; L.A. Parker, “Some Trenton residents are pushing to rename City Hall after former Mayor Doug Palmer,” https://www.trentonian.com/2024/08/25/a-group-of-trenton-residents-are-pushing-to-rename-city-hall-after-former-mayor-doug-palmer/; Meir Rinde, “End of an era – Palmer reflects on 20 years leading Jersey’s capital city,” https://www.nj.com/mercer/2010/06/end_of_an_era_-_palmer_reflect.html.
