Gum Springs Virginia
Gum Springs Button
Photo of a button designed by Robert Fasick for the Gum Springs Juneteenth and Community Day Celebration on June 18, 2022. The button states it all - Gum Springs Matters.
Queenie Cox, Gum Springs Activist
Queenie Cox is the president of the New Gum Springs Civic Association and an activist. She is seen here protesting the widening of Richmond Hwy to 13 lanes. (Photo credit The Washington Post, September 2021).
No 13 Lanes on Richmond Hwy
Protest about widening Richmond Hwy that leads into Gum Springs into 13 lanes. Community protests. (Photo Credit Fox 5 DC, 2021)
Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son?
The New Yorker posed the paternity of West Ford in an article titled: "Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son" by Jill Abramson, March 2022. The article discusses Gum Springs founding in 1833 by West Ford, who is George Washington's son in Ford oral history. (Photo Credit New Yorker Magazine).
Family and Friends at Gum Springs Community Day
Friends and Ford family descendants at Juneteenth and Community Day at Gum Springs June 2022. Left to right, Linda Allen Hollis, Jill Abramson, Joy Allen Stone, William Woodson, Queenie Cox, Carl Adams, back row: Mark Hollis and Homer Henry.
Questions and Answers on the Paternity of West Ford
The Paternity of West Ford
Following is a list of responses to several questions posed to the Ford family. This information was gathered and disseminated by Linda Allen Hollis as documentation of West Ford’s paternity. The information is listed in Appendix C: Documentation on
West Ford in the book: “I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington’s African Descendants.
Tami Franklin and Ford Descendants
Tami Frankin and Ford Family descendants Linda Allen Hollis and Joy Allen Stone at Juneteenth and Community Day, June 2022.
West Ford Community Day
Linda Allen Hollis speaks about West Ford, her 3rd great grandfather, at the West Ford Community Day and Juneteenth Celebration on June 19, 2021, Martin Luther King Park. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for WFL).
A Friend of Gum Springs
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Robert Fasick and Linda Allen Hollis attending the West Ford Community Day and Juneteenth Celebration on June 19, 2021.. Robert so graciously donated all the buttons for the event. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for WFL).
Grave headstone Dandrige Smith
Grave headstone of Dandrige Smith, son of Jane Ford and Porter Smith, grandson of West Ford. He was the husband of Annie Arnold Smith, Gum Springs first black schoolteacher. The headstone is located behind the Gum Springs Museum in the old Peake Family Cemetery. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for WFL).
This is what people are saying are about "I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants" by Linda Allen Bryant.
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Powerful storytelling with unforgettable characters...
Amazing what this family has endured and yet has found the strength to tell in this compelling story...I found the part about the Buffalo soldiers to be especially interesting. Also a touching and romantic love story.
I thought I knew my American history, but I was astounded by what I learned from this book. The author has done some fascinating work researching her family's journey from the Bushfield plantation of 1785 through the Civil War and race riots in Chicago in 1919. Much of this is mysteriously missing from our current public school history curriculum. Woven throughout the book is the thread of this family's strength fueled by their courage and commitment to place "family" above all else. Although sure to stir some controversy, this story needed to be told.
It's good to know that the ol' general was human after all. Hey, maybe the government will put George Washington's son on the other side of the dollar! (well, it was a thought!)
A great history lesson for all.
Though touted as a "novel," the back matter of this book demonstrates that this author did some serious research in putting together "I Cannot Tell a Lie." This extensive saga gives the reader a wrenching, personal tour through the victories and heartaches of one family - who spent 200 years in the shadow of a secret that can - and will - change the way the world views American history. The book gives us a whole new set of heroes - in the form of courageous, lively people of color, and of mixed race - who have been omitted from our texts. Read this book if you're ready to hear the truth about what America is, and should be, all about.
Linda Allen Bryant's book 'I Cannot Tell a Lie' was beautifully written and heartwarming. The characters were alive and appealing. Her statement, 'We hope that revealing the truth about George Washington's African American son will serve as a catalyst toward greater racial reconciliation amongst all Americans,' leaves me very proud and optimistic for our country's healing process.
I can't wait until the movie comes out!
It's about time someone came forward and finally told the truth.
George Washington, may not have chopped down the cherry tree, but Linda Allen Bryant, had enough branches to build a tree of his African-American Descendants. She weaves the story through each generation to bring us up to the present ending with her own family.
As a Washington buff, this is a story I had heard rumors about but never anything in any great detail, and this book at least made me consider whether or not my hero's blood flows through the veins of a living family. The author handles the sensitive areas of her story with grace and dignity, which heightens the humanity on both sides of the tale.
After reading this book, I finally understand the legacy of slavery left on the African American race. America has a diverse populace and it is about time everyone was included in the making of its history. This book was so appealing to my emotions - I cried and I laughed and I couldn't put it down! Truly this is one spectaluar piece of literary prose.
Wow, a black son!
I was very happy to hear that George Washington had a black son. I can relate to this book because I was born with blond hair and green eyes, although my mother is black and I look white like my father. It's hard living in a world that only sees black and white, even though it's full of color!!!
Thomas Jefferson did the same thing. The book was really good. I'm a white guy and I could relate to this book.
This book is very radical and to the point. It shows what all African American people had to go through without a history.
A quote from West Ford "Tell your children, tell them about the Old General. But don't tell nobody else' cause white folks won't accept it."
My initial thoughts on this book were "why did I volunteer to review this?" I wasn't partial to history, could barely keep up in school. I progressed to the foreword and realized this might be interesting. After completing the foreword, I noticed there were portraits of George Washington at age 25, West Ford age 21 and his mother Venus Ford. I was totally intrigued. The resemblance West Ford had to George Washington, his father, was uncanny.
What was so different about this story from all the other influential white men who bedded mulatto slaves and wives of sharecroppers? Nothing. What's interesting is how the Fords kept their family secret legacy alive. The prologue opens with Elise Ford Allen, facing her 79th birthday and choosing the "special ones" who would continue the legacy of the family. Each generation had a chronicler, who would continue the legacy. How neat is that. I, for one, am happy they did this. Imagine not ever knowing West Ford's story.