"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids--and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."

 - Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man"

West Ford in Ornate Frame at Mount Vernon

West Ford in Ornate Frame at Mount Vernon

This is the original drawing of West Ford in an ornate frame from the archives of the MVLA.  Linda Allen B. Hollis took the photo while during research on the family's legacy.  Mount Vernon would not give the photo over to the family wanting to keep it in their collection.