Elizabeth Keckley Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Elizabeth Keckley
OCCUPATION: Fashion Designer
BIRTH DATE: c. February 1818
DEATH DATE: c. May 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH: Dinwiddie, Virginia
PLACE OF DEATH: Washington, D.C.
Full Name: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley

Best Known For

Former slave Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln until she published a tell-all book about the First Family in 1868.

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Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley

APA Style

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:28, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611.

Harvard Style

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611 [Accessed 21 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 06:28 http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611.

MHRA Style

"Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611 [accessed May 21, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611 (accessed May 21, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611.

Bluebook Style

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611 (last visited May 21, 2013).

AMA Style

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-keckley-9361611. Accessed May 21, 2013.

Synopsis

Born a slave in 1818 Virginia, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley purchased her freedom in 1855. She flourished as a dressmaker in Washington, D.C., with First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln as her best customer. The two women were companions and confidantes until Keckley published a tell-all book about the Lincolns, Behind the Scenes, in 1868. She lived her last forty years in obscurity.

Profile

Dressmaker, author, former slave. Born in 1818 in Dinwiddie, Virginia. She purchased her freedom from slavery in 1855. By 1860 she was a dressmaker in Washington, D.C., and attracted the notice of Mary Todd Lincoln, to whom she became a companion and confidante. Keckley lost her clientele after publishing details of the Lincoln's private lives in Behind the Scenes (1868) and she spent her last forty years in obscurity.

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