Elizabeth Keckley biography
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.