Books with author Elizabeth M. Buckley

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.

The revealing memoir of a woman who bought her freedom from slavery and became a White House dressmaker and confidant to Mary Todd Lincoln. Born into slavery in Virginia, Elizabeth Keckley was whipped, sexually abused, and separated from her mother for long stretches of time. When her master eventually settled in St. Louis, Missouri, Keckley resolved to buy her freedom. She put to use her talents as a seamstress and found patrons among the wives of the city’s elite, eventually earning enough money to move with her young son to Washington, DC. In the nation’s capital, Keckley started her own business and soon had commissions from the wives of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stephen A. Douglas, and Edwin Stanton. Hired by Mary Todd Lincoln to be her personal modiste, Keckley formed a close friendship with the first lady, a relationship strengthened by the tragedies they endured together, including the deaths of their sons and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Published to great controversy in 1868, Behind the Scenes offers an intimate and revealing portrait of life inside the White House as well as the stirring story of one woman’s fight to rise above the horrors of slavery. Frequently cited in studies of the Civil War and biographies of the Lincolns, it is a must read for students of American history. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

2017 Reprint of 1868 Edition. 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.Keckley's first 30 years were spent as a slave, and the cruelties and injustices of her life are related clearly and succinctly. This enlightening memoir recounts how she was beaten and how she became a dressmaker to support her master and his family, how determined she was to purchase freedom for herself and her son, how her friends in St. Louis came to her aid, how she became Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker and close friend, and her perspectives and experiences from her inside view of Lincoln's White House. Keckley emerges as a calm and confident person who speaks of a very tumultuous period of American history.

"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 of the black community.Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818 – 1907) was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civil activist, and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, the First Lady. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee.Where I Was BornGirlhood and Its SorrowsHow I Gained My FreedomIn the Family of Senator Jefferson DavisMy Introduction to Mrs. LincolnWillie Lincoln's Death-bedWashington in 1862-3Candid OpinionsBehind the ScenesThe Second InaugurationThe Assassination of President LincolnMrs. Lincoln Leaves the White HouseThe Origin of the Rivalry Between Mr. Douglas and Mr. LincolnOld FriendsThe Secret History of Mrs. Lincoln's Wardrobe in New York

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (sometimes spelled Keckly; February 1818 – May 1907) was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civil activist, and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, the First Lady. Keckley had moved to Washington in 1860 after buying her freedom and that of her son in St. Louis. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee.After the American Civil War, Keckley wrote and published an autobiography, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House (1868). It was 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 of the black community.Keckley's relationship with Mary Todd Lincoln, the President's wife, was notable for its personal quality and intimacy, as well as its endurance over time. (wikipedia.org)

This book is an illustrated version of the original Behind the Scenes : Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley. “I have often been asked to write my life, as those who know me know that it has been an eventful one. At last I have acceded to the importunities of my friends, and have hastily sketched some of the striking incidents that go to make up my history. My life, so full of romance, may sound like a dream to the matter-of-fact reader, nevertheless everything I have written is strictly true; much has been omitted, but nothing has been exaggerated. In writing as I have done, I am well aware that I have invited criticism; but before the critic judges harshly, let my explanation be carefully read and weighed. If I have portrayed the dark side of slavery, I also have painted the bright side. The good that I have said of human servitude should be thrown into the scales with the evil that I have said of it. I have kind, true-hearted friends in the South as well as in the North, and I would not wound those Southern friends by sweeping condemnation, simply because I was once a slave.”

"Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress" tells the story of Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who became a successful Washington, D.C., dressmaker and confidante of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. This intimate bond allowed Keckley to witness the happy times as well as the tragic events that unfolded within the Lincoln White House. Keckley's post-Civil War life story is part slave narrative, part gossip column, part Horatio Alger story. Though Elizabeth Keckley lived longer as a slave than as modiste to Mary Todd Lincoln, most of her engrossing autobiography is devoted to her White House years. The opening three chapters establish her as a woman to be reckoned with: the "school of slavery," as she calls her bondage, taught her to be fiercely self-reliant, persevering, and defiant, though more than one slavemaster tried to beat her into submission. Having worked as a reputable seamstress for three years while also performing her full-time duties as a slavewoman, she finally managed to buy freedom for both herself and her son. After a brief, unhappy marriage, she began her rapid social ascent from seamstress for the solid South's "best ladies" to Mary Todd Lincoln's best friend and confidante. Elizabeth Keckley's narrative is riveting as she recounts life in the White House during the Lincoln administration in meticulous detail. "Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House" is a remarkable firsthand narrative of both African-American and Civil War history, sure to engage equally the history buff, lovers of literature, and those who don't mind a bit of good, old-fashioned gossip.

I have often been asked to write my life, as those who know me know that it has been an eventful one. At last I have acceded to the importunities of my friends, and have hastily sketched some of the striking incidents that go to make up my history. My life, so full of romance, may sound like a dream to the matter-of-fact reader, nevertheless everything I have written is strictly true; much has been omitted, but nothing has been exaggerated. In writing as I have done, I am well aware that I have invited criticism; but before the critic judges harshly, let my explanation be carefully read and weighed. If I have portrayed the dark side of slavery, I also have painted the bright side. The good that I have said of human servitude should be thrown into the scales with the evil that I have said of it. I have kind, true-hearted friends in the South as well as in the North, and I would not wound those Southern friends by sweeping condemnation, simply because I was once a slave. They were not so much responsible for the curse under which I was born, as the God of nature and the fathers who framed the Constitution for the United States. The law descended to them, and it was but natural that they should recognize it, since it manifestly was their interest to do so. And yet a wrong was inflicted upon me; a cruel custom deprived me of my liberty, and since I was robbed of my dearest right, I would not have been human had I not rebelled against the robbery. God rules the Universe. I was a feeble instrument in His hands, and through me and the enslaved millions of my race, one of the problems was solved that belongs to the great problem of human destiny; and the solution was developed so gradually that there was no great convulsion of the harmonies of natural laws. - Taken from "Behind The Scenes Or, Thirty Years A Slave, And Four Years In The White House" written by Elizabeth Keckley (Formerly a slave, but more recently modiste, and friend to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.)

A teen girl's guide to life, love, friends, and growing up, in an intimate diary format from Saved By the Bell star and popular teen spokesperson Elizabeth Berkley. Ask Elizabeth is the complete guide to teen life; the last and only self-help book they'll ever need. Drawn from the many workshops Elizabeth Berkley has conducted with teen girls across the country, Ask Elizabeth brings these revealing and intimate conversations to life on the page.Much like a private diary, the book is a personal resource that girls can turn to when they seek answers to teen life's toughest questions. It contains real and practical advice, anecdotes, and Elizabeth's own life lessons in answer to frequently asked questions from Elizabeth's workshop, such as: What do you do when you look in the mirror and don't like what you see? or How do you get a guy to know you're alive?Along with a panel of experts, Elizabeth advises teen girls in matters of sex, nutrition, fitness, body image, personal relationships, and more.

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 for herself and her son in 1855 and eventually settled in Washington D. C., where she sewed dresses for the wives of many famous politicians, such as Jefferson Davis’s wife, Varina. It was this work that brought her into contact with the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary. Keckley would go on to develop a close working and personal relationship with Mrs. Lincoln that spanned decades. Controversial after its publication for the deeply personal portrait of the private lives of the Lincolns, “Behind the Scenes” remains a fascinating and historically significant account of slavery, the challenges facing African-American women during the 19th century, and the daily life of one of America’s most important presidents and his family. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

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.