"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"

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Camp Butler National Cemetery
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Historic Black communities are a symbolic monument to the perseverance and enduring spirit of the African American people. The state of Virginia, commonly called the "gateway to...

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James O. Allen Sr., husband of Elise Ford Allen

James O. Allen is the husband of Elise. The couple had ten children: Carol, James Jr., Gregory, Linda, Joy, Janet, Norman, Angela, Barbara, Timothy and Matthew. James was a printer and...

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A young Florence Ford Pickett
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High School Photo

High School photo of Dr. Cecil B. Ford.

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2nd Sketch of West Ford

This is a drawing from an unnamed source of an older West Ford from the Ford Archives. Ford again signed his name at the bottom of the sketch. West Ford's name is more than a signature; he...

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Sisters posing with photo of George Washington

Linda Allen B. Hollis, and sister Janet S. Allen, posing with photo of George Washington, Rocky Mountain News.

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Young Harrison Ford

Photo of a young Harrison Ford.

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George and Harriet Ford

Photo of George and Harriet Ford at Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. In June 1938, his portrait was placed in the archives at Leavenworth, Kansas as the last lone survior...

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Mount Vernon Plantation in ruin

Photo of the Mount Vernon Plantation when West Ford was a caretaker there. (Photo courtesy of MVLA). Pamela Cunningham founded the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union and wanted...

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Siblings George III., Lena, Hallie Ford

Photo of George Ford III, with sisters, Lena and Hallie.

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Bookcover, "I Cannot Tell a Lie"

Official family chronicler, Linda Allen Bryant Hollis, has chronicled her family's legacy in the narrative nonfiction book, "I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington...

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C. Bruce and Family

Family photo of C. Bruce and his children in Peoria, Illinois. Left to right, Glen, Candy Lynn, Bruce, C. Bruce (father), and Lois Ann, Cyd Ford Keser.

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John A. and Hannah Washington

Paintings of John A. and Hannah Washington from the archives MLVA. 

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Dr. Noel B. Ford

Photo of Dr. Noel B. Ford.

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Homer and Angela Henry

Photo of Angela and Homer Henry at the AAHM Gala 2018 representing Honoree, Elise Ford Allen.  Angela is the managing editor of the Traveler Weekly Newspaper in Peoria, Illinois...

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Barbara Allen F. Randle

Photo of Barbara Allen Randle, 5th great granddaughter of George Washington.

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West Ford, son of George Washington

Drawing of West Ford in his early 70's, son of George Washington and father of Daniel Ford. 

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Slave Commemoration 2021

Slave Commemoration at Mount Vernon with Doug Bradburn (CEO) Mount Vernon, Barika Porter and Sheila Coates (Black Women United for Action), October 9, 2021. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for WFL...

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Hannah Ford

Photo of Hannah Ford, daughter of William and Henrietta Bruce, granddaughter of West Ford. She was born around November 0f 1850. Hannah married the Civil War Veteran John Pierson Quander on...

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