Elizabeth Keckley

"Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House" is Elizabeth Keckley's compelling memoir of her life, offering a unique perspective on American history. As a former slave who purchased her freedom, Keckley's journey took her from the bonds of slavery to the heart of the Lincoln administration. Her experiences as a successful seamstress led her to the White House, where she became a trusted confidante and dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln. This autobiography provides invaluable insight into the lives of African American women during a tumultuous period, including the Civil War. Keckley's narrative sheds light on the complexities of race, class, and power in 19th-century America, revealing the personal stories behind historical events. Her account offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Lincoln White House, making it a significant historical document. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House" is Elizabeth Keckley's compelling memoir of her life, offering a unique perspective on American history. As a former slave who purchased her freedom, Keckley's journey took her from the bonds of slavery to the heart of the Lincoln administration. Her experiences as a successful seamstress led her to the White House, where she became a trusted confidante and dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln. This autobiography provides invaluable insight into the lives of African American women during a tumultuous period, including the Civil War. Keckley's narrative sheds light on the complexities of race, class, and power in 19th-century America, revealing the personal stories behind historical events. Her account offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Lincoln White House, making it a significant historical document. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A landmark anthology of full-length works by Black American women writers of the 19th century including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Harriet Jacobs, and Mary Weston Fordham-edited and with an introduction by C. S. R. Calloway. Shadows Uplifted collects and celebrates the vibrant and diverse work of these often unsung Black female writers, meticulously preserving their words while making them newly accessible to modern readers of all genders and backgrounds. Collected here for the first time in a single volume are three personal narratives: Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, Harriet E. Wilson's 1859 critical look at Black life in the northern states and long considered to be the first novel published by a Black American woman. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself, Harriet Jacobs's 1861 stark account of the journey she took to free herself and her children from enslaved life. Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, Elizabeth Keckley's 1868 autobiography detailing her life as a dressmaker for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln." Let us continue to uplift such shadows in our history, allowing them their corporeal bodies, flesh, blood, and melanated skin. Let us continue to uplift Black women: supporting and honoring their stories, their art, and their existence." - C. S. R. Calloway

The book, Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Elizabeth Keckley reveals the hardships of slavery and the changing political climate in Washington amongst the country’s most powerful couple, Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Keckley had unprecedented access, giving insight into their state during and after the Civil War. Elizabeth Keckley was born into slavery and experienced a traumatic upbringing riddled with physical and sexual violence. One attack resulted in the birth of her son, whom she named George. Elizabeth was a gifted seamstress who used her skills to save money to buy her and her son’s freedom. She ventured North and started a career as a dressmaker to influential women in political circles. One of her most notable clients was Mary Todd Lincoln, with whom she developed a close friendship. Behind the Scenes is a harrowing story of one woman’s unshakable drive. Despite her limiting circumstances, Elizabeth Keckley earned her freedom and became a successful entrepreneur. It’s an inspiring tale that provides a personal account of one of the most volatile times in American history. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Behind the Scenes is both modern and readable.

Elizabeth Keckley reveals the hardships of slavery and the changing political climate in Washington amongst the country’s most powerful couple, Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Keckley had unprecedented access, giving insight into their state during and after the Civil War. Elizabeth Keckley was born into slavery and experienced a traumatic upbringing riddled with physical and sexual violence. One attack resulted in the birth of her son, whom she named George. Elizabeth was a gifted seamstress who used her skills to save money to buy her and her son’s freedom. She ventured North and started a career as a dressmaker to influential women in political circles. One of her most notable clients was Mary Todd Lincoln, with whom she developed a close friendship. Behind the Scenes is a harrowing story of one woman’s unshakable drive. Despite her limiting circumstances, Elizabeth Keckley earned her freedom and became a successful entrepreneur. It’s an inspiring tale that provides a personal account of one of the most volatile times in American history. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Behind the Scenes is both modern and readable.

Reproduction of the original: Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley

Behind The Scenes: Or, Thirty Years A Slave, And Four Years In The White House. This book is a result of an effort made by us towards making a contribution to the preservation and repair of original classic literature. In an attempt to preserve, improve and recreate the original content, we have worked towards: 1. Type-setting & Reformatting: The complete work has been re-designed via professional layout, formatting and type-setting tools to re-create the same edition with rich typography, graphics, high quality images, and table elements, giving our readers the feel of holding a 'fresh and newly' reprinted and/or revised edition, as opposed to other scanned & printed (Optical Character Recognition - OCR) reproductions. 2. Correction of imperfections: As the work was re-created from the scratch, therefore, it was vetted to rectify certain conventional norms with regard to typographical mistakes, hyphenations, punctuations, blurred images, missing content/pages, and/or other related subject matters, upon our consideration. Every attempt was made to rectify the imperfections related to omitted constructs in the original edition via other references. However, a few of such imperfections which could not be rectified due to intentional\unintentional omission of content in the original edition, were inherited and preserved from the original work to maintain the authenticity and construct, relevant to the work. We believe that this work holds historical, cultural and/or intellectual importance in the literary works community, therefore despite the oddities, we accounted the work for print as a part of our continuing effort towards preservation of literary work and our contribution towards the development of the society as a whole, driven by our beliefs. We are grateful to our readers for putting their faith in us and accepting our imperfections with regard to preservation of the historical content. HAPPY READING

Reproduction of the original: Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley

Behind the Scenes" is both a slave narrative and a portrait of the First Family, especially Mary Todd Lincoln, and is considered controversial for breaking privacy about them. It was also her claim as a businesswoman to be part of the new mixed-race, middle-class that was visible among the leadership of the black community. Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818 – 1907) was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civil activist, and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, the First Lady. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee. Where I Was Born Girlhood and Its Sorrows How I Gained My Freedom In the Family of Senator Jefferson Davis My Introduction to Mrs. Lincoln Willie Lincoln's Death-bed Washington in 1862-3 Candid Opinions Behind the Scenes The Second Inauguration The Assassination of President Lincoln Mrs. Lincoln Leaves the White House The Origin of the Rivalry Between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln Old Friends The Secret History of Mrs. Lincoln's Wardrobe in New York

First published in 1868, "Behind the Scenes: or, Thirty Years a Slave, And Four Years in the White House" is the intimate autobiography of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who became a successful seamstress and eventual close confidante and friend of Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley was born into slavery in 1818 and suffered great hardship and abuse at the hands of her master and the white citizens of Hillsborough, North Carolina. She earned enough money as a talented dressmaker to buy freedom for herself and her son in 1855 and eventually settled in Washington D. C., where she sewed dresses for the wives of many famous politicians, such as Jefferson Davis's wife, Varina. It was this work that brought her into contact with the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary. Keckley would go on to develop a close working and personal relationship with Mrs. Lincoln that spanned decades. Controversial after its publication for the deeply personal portrait of the private lives of the Lincolns, "Behind the Scenes" remains a fascinating and historically significant account of slavery, the challenges facing African-American women during the 19th century, and the daily life of one of America's most important presidents and his family. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley, formerly a slave, but more recently modiste, and friend to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civil activist, and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, the First Lady. The world have judged Mrs. Lincoln by the facts which float upon the surface, and through her have partially judged me, and the only way to convince them that wrong was not meditated is to explain the motives that actuated us. I have written nothing that can place Mrs. Lincoln in a worse light before the world than the light in which she now stands, therefore the secret history that I publish can do her no harm. I have excluded everything of a personal character from her letters; the extracts introduced only refer to public men, and are such as to throw light upon her unfortunate adventure in New York. These letters were not written for publication, for which reason they are all the more valuable; they are the frank overflowings of the heart, the outcropping of impulse, the key to genuine motives. They prove the motive to have been pure, and if they shall help to stifle the voice of calumny, I am content. I do not forget, before the public journals vilified Mrs. Lincoln, that ladies who moved in the Washington circle in which she moved, freely canvassed her character among themselves. They gloated over many a tale of scandal that grew out of gossip in their own circle. If these ladies, could say everything bad of the wife of the President, why should I not be permitted to lay her secret history bare, especially when that history plainly shows that her life, like all lives, has its good side as well as its bad side

Elizabeth Keckley s Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House is both a riveting slave narrative and a fascinating insider s look at the First Family during the Lincoln administration.