The black people did not vote in America in 1941.

When Henry turned twenty-one, he was legally allowed to vote, but in Davidson County in 1941, blacks could not vote. One night, after he had turned twenty-one, Henry put his father and five other people in his father’s Model A Ford and drove to the house of the voting registrar. He said they were there to put their names in the voting book. The registrar was prepared for this. He said the literacy regulation required that Henry be able to read the Constitution of the United States. He placed a copy on the table. Henry picked it up and read it. The registrar looked at Henry and realized he had no choice. He entered Henry’s name in the book. He was the first black to register in the county. The second was his father, because Henry would not leave until his father’s name, and the names of the five others, were put in the book. That was not enough. The next day Henry brought more people to the courthouse, where he faced a different clerk who refused to register the people. Henry told him, "I believe you ought to register these folks. They’re able to read. Not all of your folks coming in here can read." For the first time the county government encountered a man who would not budge from his belief in his rights. Henry got the people registered.