Title: Behind the scenes. By Elizabeth Keckley. Or, Thirty years a slave, and four years in the White House.
Description: A former slave's intimate memoir of the Lincoln White House, a timeless addition to the canons of African American and Civil War literatureOriginally published in 1868-when it was attacked as an "indecent book" authored by a "traitorous eavesdropper"-Behind the Scenes is the story of Elizabeth Keckley, who began her life as a slave and became a privileged witness to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Keckley bought her freedom at the age of thirty-seven and set up a successful dressmaking business in Washington, D.C. She became modiste to Mary Todd Lincoln and in time her friend and confidante, a relationship that continued after Lincoln's assassination. In documenting that friendship-often using the First Lady's own letters-Behind the Scenes fuses the slave narrative with the political memoir. It remains extraordinary for its poignancy, candor, and historical perspective.First time in Penguin Classics
Subjects: Relations with African Americans, Slaves, African American women, Dressmakers, Biography, Women slaves, Lincoln, mary todd, 1818-1882, Lincoln, abraham, 1809-1865, Dressmaking, Slaves, united states, African americans, biography, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, Black Women, Biography & Autobiography, History, Nonfiction, Employees, African americans, history, Enslaved persons, united states, Enslaved women, Women, united states, biography, Friends and associates
Places: United States
People: Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882), Elizabeth Keckley (ca. 1818-1907), Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Abraham Lincoln Pres. U.S. (1809-1865), Mary (Todd) Lincoln (1818-1882), Elizabeth Keckley (1824-1907)