"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"
All
This is the home where Major George Ford raised his family on the grounds of Camp Butler National Cemetery.
-
|
This is a photo of Jacqueline Allen Whitehead, descendant of William Ford, son of West Ford. She was visiting Mount Vernon for the 2022 Slave Commemoration at Mount Vernon (From Ford...
-
|
.thumbnail.jpg "Stones at Cemetery")
These are stones painted and placed upon a grave at the Mount Vernon Slave Cemetery (Photo Credit: Jacqueline Allen Whitehead Collection).
-
|
Gum Springs is the free Black community founded by West Ford. Ford made the land he was bequeathed available to the formally enslaved after Emancipation and turned it into the enduring legacy...
-
|
|
Free African Americans of the post-colonial South are featured in this web site, which lists entries from free registries of the era and gives a glimpse into the pride and struggle of African...
-
|
West Ford's grandson, Major George William Ford, served his country with honor as one of the nation's Buffalo soldiers. Click the link to learn more about the first African-Americans...
-
|
A PBS mini-documentary with the descendants of West Ford
-
|
Video by Sarah Brown includes a pic of West Ford
-
|
|
We will tell authentic stories about African-American life in Central Illinois, past and present, celebrating and sharing our history and culture and planning for our future.
-
|
-
|
Part of the remarkable legacy of West Ford is the amazing “paper trail” that he left behind—one that is being perpetuated...
-
|
-
|
|
-
|
Welcome to the Legacy of West Ford’s official website. The story of George Washington’s African American descendants is a complex, multi-layered story and in that vein, this website...
-
|
Florence Ford married Charles Pickett and the couple had ten children: Cecil Bruce Jr., Michael, Boyd, Larry, Patricia, Beverly, David, Sharon and Deborah.She was a dedicated homemaker, an...
-
|
Photo of Harrison Ford, son of Dr. Cecil Bruce Ford and grandson of Major George W. Ford. Harrison graduated from Bradley University with both a B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics and...
-
|
.thumbnail.jpg "Dr. Noel B. Ford Page 34 Crisis Magazine August 1917")
Photo of Noel Ford (center), son of Major George Ford.
-
|
 Hallie Ford Goins (daugther of George Ford) Garfield Goins, husband to Hallie.thumbnail.JPG "Ford Family Dinner")
Florence Ford (married to Cecil Bruce Ford), Harriett "Hallie" Ford Goins (daugther of George Ford), Garfield Goins, husband to Hallie, and Janet Allen at a Christmas dinner at the...
-
|
Dr. Judith Saunders Burton, great, grandaughter of John Ford, brother of Major George Ford. Picture was taken at Mount Vernon at the slave cemetery. Her family's story is detailed in I...
-
|
Photo of author of "I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants."
-
|
...
...