“Freedom Candidates – Aaron Henry for Governor, Rev. Ed King for Lieutenant Governor”

Mississippi native, pharmacist, and businessman, Aaron Henry became active in civil rights following his experience with segregation as an African American soldier during World War II. Henry worked with a number of groups to establish the statewide Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). He served as president of COFO in 1962 and helped organize the “freedom vote,” a mock statewide general election to parallel the Mississippi gubernatorial election of 1963. Henry believed that if African American voters showed their willingness to vote in this mock election, then Mississippians and the nation would realize that Black voters would participate in the electoral process. Henry was on the mock ballot for governor and Edwin King, a white chaplain at Tougaloo College in Jackson, was on the ballot for lieutenant governor. In addition to the freedom candidates, the mock ballot included Democratic candidate Paul B. Johnson Jr. and Republican candidate Rubel Phillips. Ballot boxes were placed in churches, businesses, and homes across the state, and voting took place over a weekend, from Friday to Monday. Henry and King “won” the mock election in which more than 80,000 Black Mississippians voted. This event showed the country that African Americans would vote if given the chance.