Washington daily news (Washington, D.C.), July 4, 1945
NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., July 4
Thomas Paine, who gave the United States of America its name and, in some measure, the fighting courage of its convictions, was restored to citizenship in this suburban city today—136 years after his death.
New Rochelle denied Paine the right to vote in 1806, maintaining he had lost American citizenship by becoming an honorary citizen of France.
Today Mayor Church proclaimed:
“I … do reinstate posthumously Thomas Paine, first citizen of America, to full citizenship and the rights thereof in this city from July 4, 1945, onward …”
“Only a few days ago the United Nations Charter was signed,” Church said. “This, in a sense, represents the fulfillment of a plan Thomas Paine projected through the people of America to the world for the organization of a congress of nations to outlaw war.”