It's 1946. Springfield. Theo Finley was just married at the age of 44. His new wife, Jessie Mae Finley, is a widow with two teenage children.

Theo is an African American, born to an Arkansas schoolteacher and blacksmith-farmer. He received a degree from Southland College in Arkansas before studying applied electrical engineering and lettering and poster art in Chicago.

Two years ago he moved from Chicago to Springfield and now finds himself, for the first time, considering building a new home for his recently acquired family.