Ralph Ellison

Inscription 1:
RALPH ELLISON / 1914-1994 / AMERICAN WRITER / LONGTIME RESIDENT OF 730 RIVERSIDE DRIVE / HIS PIONEERING NOVEL, INVISIBLE MAN (1952), / DETAILS THE STRUGGLES OF A YOUNG / AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN IN A HOSTILE SOCIETY.

Inscription 2:
"I AM AN INVISIBLE MAN... / I AM INVISIBLE, UNDERSTAND, SIMPLY BECAUSE / PEOPLE REFUSE TO SEE ME." /

-RALPH ELLISON, 1952 / INVISIBLE MAN /

ELIZABETH CATLETT / SCULPTOR / MAY 2003 /

Inscription 3:
"THE VERY IDEA OF BEING IN NEW YORK WAS DREAMLIKE, / FOR LIKE MANY YOUNG NEGROES OF THE TIME, I THOUGHT / OF IT AS THE FREEST OF AMERICAN CITIES, AND CONSIDERED / HARLEM AS THE SITE AND SYMBOL OF AFRO-AMERICAN / PROGRESS AND HOPE. INDEED, I WAS BOTH YOUNG AND / BOOKISH ENOUGH TO THINK OF MANHATTAN AS MY / SUBSTITUTE FOR PARIS, AND OF HARLEM AS A PLACE OF LEFT / BANK EXCITEMENT. SO NOW THAT I WAS THERE IN ITS / GLAMOROUS SCENE, I MEANT TO MAKE THE MOST OF ITS / OPPORTUNITIES." /

-RALPH ELLISON / AN EXTRAVAGANCE OF LAUGHTER, 1986