Elizabeth Keckley

Early life Elizabeth Keckley (or Keckly) was born into slavery in February 1818, in Dinwiddie County Court House, Dinwiddie, Virginia, just south of Petersburg. She was the only child of her mother Agnes, a light-skinned Black woman whose white ancestors were members of the planter class. Her mother, nicknamed "Aggy", was a "house slave" who had learned to read and write even though it was illegal for enslaved people. She made clothes for 82 people: 12 members of the Burwell family and the 70 people they enslaved. He permitted Agnes to marry George Pleasant Hobbs, a literate enslaved man who lived and worked at a neighbor's house during Keckley's early childhood. When Hobbs' owner moved far away, Hobbs was separated from Agnes. Although they were never reunited, Agnes and George corresponded for many years. As an adult, Elizabeth Keckley noted "the most precious mementos of my existence are the faded old letters that he wrote, full of love, and always hoping that the future would bring brighter days." Keckley was enslaved by Burwell, who served as a colonel in the War of 1812, and his wife Mary. Keckley was harshly punished if she failed to care properly for the baby. One day she accidentally tipped the cradle over too far, causing the infant to roll onto the floor, and Mary Burwell beat her severely. As she grew up, Keckley helped her mother make clothes. She was their only servant. Margaret enlisted neighbor William J. Bingham to help subdue Elizabeth's "stubborn pride". When Keckley was 18, Bingham called her to his quarters and ordered her to undress so that he could beat her. Keckley refused, saying she was fully grown, and "you shall not whip me unless you prove the stronger. Nobody has a right to whip me but my own master, and nobody shall do so if I can prevent it." Bingham bound her hands and beat her, then sent her back to her master with bleeding welts on her back. The next week, Bingham flogged her again until he was exhausted. Again Elizabeth was sent back to her master with bleeding welts upon her back. A week later, Bingham flogged her again until he was exhausted, while she suppressed her tears and cries. The next week, after yet another attempt to "break her", Bingham had a change of heart, "burst[ing] into tears, and declar[ing] that it would be a sin" to beat her anymore. He asked for her forgiveness and said that he would not beat her again. Keckley claims that he kept his word. When she was 18 years of age, about 1836, Keckley was given to her owner's friend, Alexander M. Kirkland. In 1839, she bore Kirkland's son and named him George after her stepfather. who suffered significant financial reverses by that time. Road to freedom Keckley met her future husband James in St. Louis, but refused to marry him until she and her son were free, because she did not want to have another child born into slavery. His wife, Anne, put the conditions in writing in 1855. She stayed in St. Louis until she repaid the $1,200 loan, ==Career==

Early years In 1860, she enrolled her son, George Kirkland, in the newly established Wilberforce University in Ohio. Seamstress in Washington Keckley planned to work as a seamstress in Washington, but she could not afford the required license for a free black to remain in the city for more than 10 or 30 days. One of her patrons, a woman by the name of Miss Ringold, petitioned Mayor James G. Berret for a license for Keckley, which he granted to her free of charge. Ringold, a member of General John Mason's family from Virginia, also vouched that Keckley was a free woman, another requirement for residence. Keckley later became the favored family seamstress of Varina Davis, the wife of then Senator Jefferson Davis, who with her husband discussed the prospects of war in her presence. She made clothing for Davis and her children. Keckley hired seamstresses to finish the dress for McLean, who arranged a meeting the following week for her with Mary Todd Lincoln. Mary Todd Lincoln Keckley met Mary Todd Lincoln on March 4, 1861, the day of Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration and had an interview the following day. Lincoln chose her as her personal modiste and personal dresser, Lincoln was known for having clothes with floral patterns, bright colors, and youthful styling. The dresses made by Keckley for her were more sophisticated. Keckley, who was ladylike and had a regal bearing, became Lincoln's best friend. She often visited the Lincolns' living quarters and was in attendance during private family conversations by 1862. In April 1862, the District of Columbia emancipated enslaved persons. Although Keckley had much earlier purchased her own freedom in St. Louis, she was featured in a syndicated newspaper article about previously enslaved people who had made a success of their lives. As there was an influx of previously enslaved people in Washington, she established the Ladies' Freedmen and Soldier's Relief Association to assist people until they were able to establish a life for themselves. The Lincolns assisted her and visited the contrabands camps. Keckley, who lost her son during a Civil War battle in August 1861, was a source of strength and comfort for Lincoln after Willie died of typhoid fever in February 1862 and after President Lincoln's assassination. Keckley was among the recipients of Lincoln's effects. She acquired Mary Lincoln's dress from the second inauguration, the blood-spattered cloak and bonnet from the night of the assassination, as well as some of the President's personal items. Keckley accompanied Lincoln and her children to Illinois after the assassination. By writing the book, it was her intention to improve Lincoln's reputation and to explain what led to Lincoln's old clothes scandal of 1867. She also hoped that the income from the book would provide some financial support for Lincoln. At a time when the white middle class struggled over "genteel performance", Keckley unveiled and revealed a white woman by the very title of her book, showing what went on behind the public scenes and revealing "private, domestic information involving, primarily, white women." She lost many dressmaking clients. Robert Lincoln convinced the publisher to halt production of the book, which he felt was an embarrassment to his family. The following year, she held an exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair, representing Wilberforce. Due to a mild stroke, she resigned in 1893. ==Ladies' Freedmen and Soldier's Relief Association==

camp, formerly used as a female seminary, circa 1863 Keckley founded the Contraband Relief Association in August 1862, receiving donations from both Lincolns, as well as other white patrons and well-to-do free blacks. The organization changed its name in July 1864 to the Ladies' Freedmen and Soldier's Relief Association, to "reflect its expanded mission" after blacks started serving in the United States Colored Troops. The organization provided food, shelter, clothing, and medical care to recently freed persons, who were called contrabands because they were not legally free people and considered seized property, or contrabands, of war. She saw that "[their] appeal for help too often was answered by cold neglect." She thought the free blacks could do something similar to benefit the poor and suggested to her colored friends "a society of colored people be formed to labor for the benefit of the unfortunate freedmen." The organization held fundraisers, with concerts, speeches, dramatic readings, and festivals. Keckley sought out prominent black figures to support the organization including Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet, J. Sella Martin, It affirmed in its first annual report that "every effort made by us to obtain funds to alleviate in any way the distresses of our afflicted brethren has been crowned with success." The association distributed clothes, food, and shelter among the freedmen and sent funds to many. Jean Fagan Yellin notes that the association sent $50 to the sick and wounded soldiers at Alexandria, Virginia. The association hosted Christmas dinners for sick and wounded soldiers. It distributed food to other organizations. The organization helped to place African-American teachers in the newly built schools for blacks. The entire community had recognized, valued, and thanked "the officers and the members of the Association for their kindness and attentive duties to the sick and wounded;" but it was overlooked in later histories. The association became lost to history, but it set the standards and showed the need for relief organizations to provide aid to the poor and displaced black community. The work of the association within the black community helped create black autonomy. Through intra-ethnic networking, the association created an organization by and for African Americans. ==Personal life==

When she lived in St. Louis, Elizabeth became reacquainted with James Keckley, whom she knew in Virginia. He portrayed himself as a free man. Elizabeth and James were allowed to marry by November 15, 1855, and were married for eight years. During that time, she learned that he was still enslaved, was not a helpful partner, relied on her support, and was subject to abuses. She separated from him, and their marriage officially ended with his death, due to his excesses. More than three-quarters white, he enlisted as a white in the Union Army in 1861 after the war broke out. He was a private in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment, Company D, led by Captain Richardson. He died on August 10, 1861, during the Battle of Wilson's Creek. After difficulties in establishing her son's racial identity, Keckley gained a pension as his survivor; it was $8 monthly and was later raised to $12 () for the remainder of her life. After she was unable to work, the pension was her only income. who was a successful caterer After Lewis died, she raised the girls. She was a member of the Union Bethel Church until 1865, when she joined the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington. For a period of time, she lived in Washington, D.C., with John Gray, a successful caterer during the Lincoln administration. By the late 1890s, she returned to Washington, where she lived in the National Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children, which she helped found. She was interred at Columbian Harmony Cemetery. In 1960, her remains were transferred to National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland, when Columbian Harmony closed and the land was sold. A historic plaque installed across the street from the site of the former home commemorates her life. Jennifer Fleischer wrote: On May 26, 2010, 103 years after her death, a marker was placed at Keckley's grave in National Harmony Memorial Park. ==Legacy and honors==

• The dress that Keckley designed for Mary Todd Lincoln to wear at her husband's second inauguration ceremony and reception is held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. • Keckley designed a quilt made from scraps of materials left over from dresses she made for Mrs. Lincoln. It is held by the Kent State University Museum and is shown in the book, The Threads of Time, The Fabric of History (2007), by Rosemary E. Reed Miller, which features Keckley among numerous African-American designers. • The former school in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where Keckley worked for Rev. Robert Burwell, is now owned and operated as a house museum, the Burwell School Historic Site, by the Historic Hillsborough Commission. Its website discusses Keckley's life and times. • On December 12, 2018, The New York Times published an obituary for Keckley, as a part of its Overlooked series of stories of remarkable individuals whose deaths went unreported by the newspaper. • In 2022, Sarah Jessica Parker wore a dress to the Met Gala based on one of Keckley's designs from 1862 for Mary Todd Lincoln. ==Representations in culture==

;Films • In Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln (2012), Keckley is portrayed by Gloria Reuben. ;Television • In 1988's Lincoln (miniseries) she was portrayed by Ruby Dee, who received an Emmy nomination for the role. • In Apple TV+ miniseries' Manhunt (2024), Keckley is portrayed by Betty Gabriel. ;Literature • Tim Jorgenson's novel Mrs. Keckley Sends Her Regards (2007) portrays Keckley's intimate friendship with both of the Lincolns. • Jennifer Chiaverini's novel ''Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker'' (2013) focuses on Mrs. Keckley's friendship with Mrs. Lincoln. • George Saunders' novel, Lincoln in the Bardo (2017), quotes several passages from Mrs. Keckley's autobiography. ;Plays • Tazewell Thompson's play Mary T. & Lizzy K. opened in March 2013 at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C. ==See also==