Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818-1907)

S-85

Born near here in Dinwiddie County in 1818, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (sometimes Keckly) was a dressmaker and abolitionist. She lived as a slave in Virginia and North Carolina but eventually bought her freedom in 1855. By 1860 she had relocated to Baltimore and then to Washington, D.C. Because of her dressmaking skills, she became the seamstress, personal maid, and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln's wife. In 1868, Keckley’s account, Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, appeared and met with criticism from Mrs. Lincoln for its candor. Keckley died in 1907.

Department of Historic Resources, 2011

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Drachman, Virginia G. Enterprising Women: 250 years of American Business. (Chapel Hill, Schlesinger Library Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, Harvard University by University of North Carolina Press, c2002), p. 184. Fleischner, Jennifer. Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First lady and a Former Slave. (New York: Broadway Books, 2003). Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. (G.W. Carleton & Co. New York, 1868), pp. 43-55. Santamarina, Xiomara. Belabored professions: narratives of African American Working Womanhood. (chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, c2005. Xiv, 222 p. : ill.; 23cm. Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley: Biographical Sketch. In: American National Biography. (New York, NY. V.12, 1999) pp. 432-433. Elizabeth Keckley: Biographical Sketch. In: Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history. (New York. V.3, 1996), pp. 1529-1530. Elizabeth Keckley: Biographical Sketch. In: Notable American Women, 1607-1950. (Cambridge, Ma. V.2,1980), p. 310-311. Stitched Freedom: Lizzie Keckley’s journey from slavery to the White House. In: Virginia Living. Richmond, VA. vol.5, no.3 (April 2007), p. 29. www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/26/Elizabeth_Keckley_Mary_Todds