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Elizabeth Keckley, ca. 1818-1907
Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House
New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers, 1868.

Summary

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (ca. 1818-1907) was born enslaved in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, to Agnes Hobbs and George Pleasant. Keckley experienced harsh treatment under slavery, including beatings as well as the sexual assault of a white man, by whom she had a son named George. She was eventually given to her owner's daughter, Ann Garland, with whom she moved to St. Louis. There she became a dressmaker and supported Garland's entire household for over two years. She married James Keckley around 1852, discovering only afterward that he was not a free man. Prior to her marriage, Keckley had negotiated with the Garlands to purchase her freedom and that of her son, but she could not raise the required $1,200, because of the strain of supporting her "dissipated" husband and the Garland household (p. 50). Sympathetic customers loaned Keckley the money to purchase her freedom and that of her son in 1855. In 1860, she left her husband and moved to Washington, D.C., where she set up a dressmaking shop. Keckley's clients were the wives of influential politicians, and she eventually became the dresser and close confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. After President Lincoln's assassination, Keckley made several attempts to raise money for the former first lady. Keckley published Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House in 1868, partly to help Mrs. Lincoln financially and partly to counter criticism of Mrs. Lincoln. Keckley did not foresee the overwhelming public disapproval for publishing personal details about Mrs. Lincoln and White House private life; it led to the end of her dressmaking career as well as condemnation from the Lincoln family. She left Washington in 1892 to teach domestic skills at Wilberforce University, but ill health forced her to return and spend her final years in the Home for Destitute Women and Children, which she had helped to establish. She died there after a stroke in 1907.

Though the verifiable facts in Behind the Scenes have affirmed the text's authenticity, there is speculation about the level of involvement of Keckley's editor, James Redpath. Lincoln scholars have relied on the autobiography for information about White House domestic life, anecdotes about President Lincoln, and Mary Lincoln's experiences and opinions during the 1860s. Lincoln biographers have quoted extensively from Keckley's text.

The first chapters describe Keckley's childhood and life in slavery. The love of Keckley's immediate family contrasts sharply with the abuse she receives at the hands of her owners. Writing against the antebellum myth of the happy slave, Keckley observes that slave owners were the cause of much suffering, and yet Colonel Burwell "never liked to see one of his slaves wear a sorrowful face, and those who offended in this particular way were always punished. Alas! the sunny face of the slave is not always an indication of sunshine in the heart" (p. 29).

At fourteen, Keckley is sent to live in North Carolina as a loan to Burwell's eldest son. Keckley's presence causes rancor with young Mrs. Burwell. She encourages Mr. Bingham, the village schoolmaster, to abuse Keckley physically in order to subdue her "proud, rebellious spirit" (p. 38). During this period, Keckley is raped by a white man, a topic to which she alludes only obliquely. She gives birth to a son, George. After several years, Keckley and her son are given to Mr. Garland, moves the family to St. Louis. He is poor and unable to support his family, so Keckley becomes a seamstress and dressmaker. She quickly acquires a good reputation and large clientele. At this time she begins to consider a marriage proposal from James Keckley; however, she does not wish to marry or have additional children while enslaved. She negotiates with Garland to buy her freedom and that of her son for $1200, under which condition she consents to marry. Unable to raise the money while also supporting her husband and the Garland family, Keckley receives a loan from sympathetic patrons and obtains her freedom in 1855.

Keckley leaves her husband and takes her son to Washington, D.C., where she opens a dressmaking shop in the spring of 1860. Keckley's dream is to become dressmaker to the wife of the President, which she achieves when she is referred by one of her clients. Keckley becomes Mary Todd Lincoln's primary dressmaker and "modiste."

Keckley is often called to the White House to dress the first lady, where she witnesses intimate moments between the President and his wife, receives the confidences of Mrs. Lincoln, and observes the domestic interactions of the first family. Keckley is also present during many of Mrs. Lincoln's discussions with her husband, during which the latter offers opinions about members of his cabinet or his political affairs. Keckley and Mrs. Lincoln also bond over the loss of their sons. As the Civil War draws to a close, Keckley is close enough to the Lincoln family to be invited to join the presidential party during a triumphant tour of conquered Richmond.

Keckley is Mrs. Lincoln's primary confidante during the devastating period after President Lincoln's assassination. She describes Mrs. Lincoln's intense grief as well as her financial troubles. She accompanies the Lincolns on their return west, and Behind the Scenes includes much of the correspondence written during this time, illustrating Mrs. Lincoln's grief, her frustration at Congress' failure to provide financial support, and her anxiety about finding alternative sources of income. Behind the Scenes is a valuable text for its insightful and very human portrayal of two lionized figures of American history, although the book's publication extracted a high cost from its author.

Works Consulted: Keough, Leyla, "Keckley, Elizabeth," Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Ed., eds. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr., Oxford African American Studies Center, retrieved 26 February 2009; Marlowe, Gertrude Woodruff, "Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs," American National Biography Online, retrieved 26 February 2009; Reed, Rosemary, "Keckley, Elizabeth," Black Women in America, Second Ed., ed. Darlene Clark-Hine, Oxford African American Studies Center, retrieved 26 February 2009.

Jenn Williamson

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