An autobiographical narrative, BEHIND THE SCENES traces Elizabeth Keckley's life from her enslavement in Virginia and North Carolina to her time as seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House during Abraham Lincoln's administration. It was quite controversial at the time of its release–an uncompromising work that transgressed Victorian boundaries between public and private life, and lines of race, gender, and society.
First published in 1868, “Behind the Scenes: or, Thirty Years a Slave, And Four Years in the White House” is the intimate autobiography of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who became a successful seamstress and eventual close confidante and friend of Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley was born into slavery in 1818 and suffered great hardship and abuse at the hands of her master and the white citizens of Hillsborough, North Carolina. She earned enough money as a talented dressmaker to buy freedom...
This eBook edition of «Behind the Scenes: 30 Years a Slave & 4 Years in the White House» has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. "Behind the Scenes" is both a slave narrative and a portrait of the First Family, especially Mary Todd Lincoln, and is considered controversial for breaking privacy about them. It was also her claim as a businesswoman to be part of the new mixed-race, middle-class that was visible among the leadership...
