Women in History

Elizabeth Keckley

Born Elizabeth Hobbs in February 1818, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, USA. She was born enslaved, her mother was, Agnes "Aggy"  Hobbs & her father was, Col. Armistead Burwell, who owned Aggy. The circumstances of her conception are unknown, though considering the historical context, it's likely Aggy was raped by Burwell. But Elizabeth wouldn't learn of her true parentage until much later in life. She was raised as the daughter of George Pleasant Hobbs, Aggy's husband, who was enslaved on a nearby plantation. When she was only about 7 years old, Elizabeth's family was broken up when George's owner sold him. He wrote to the family but they never saw each other again. Elizabeth learned to read, write & sew from her mother, who often sewed clothes for the Burwell family. 

When she was about 14, Burwell sent Elizabeth to live with his son, Robert Burwell & his wife in North Carolina. Her time living with the couple was miserable, she wrote too her family describing the couple's cruelty & how the would often "beat her arbitrarily". On top of her unhappy home life, she was severally sexually abused over the years by a local store owner named, Alexander McKenzie Kirkland. In 1839, she gave birth to a son, whom she named George, after the man she regarded as her father.

In 1842, Elizabeth reunited with her mother, when she & her son, were sold too Burwell's daughter, Ann Garland her husband, Hugh. The trio accompanied the Garlands when they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1847. The couple struggled too make ends meet so they considered "renting out" Aggy Hobbs as a day servant. Elizabeth feared that the hard labour would be too much for her elderly mother, she instead proposed to start selling her services as a seamstress. And so through her skills with a needle & thread, keen business sense & Ann Garland's connections, Elizabeth soon become one of the most sought after dressmaker's in St. Louis. Her work was known for it's expert tailoring & subtle elegance. The income she earned was enough to support the whole Garland family.

In the early 1850's an acquaintance of Elizabeth's, James Keckley, asked for her hand in marriage. She hesitated as she didn't want to have anymore children while she was still a slave, as they too would be born into slavery. So she decided to pursue her freedom, the Garlands initially resisted her attempts but they eventually agreed to let Elizabeth purchase freedom for herself & her son, George, for $1200 (about $41,000 in today's money). With her freedom on the horizon, Elizabeth finally married Keckley in 1852. But as she was still technically owned by the Garlands most of her earnings as a seamstress went to them & she struggled to save money. Luckily, a family sympathetic to her cause opened a loan to sponsor her. On November 15, 1855, Elizabeth & her son were officially freed. Once she was finally emancipated, Elizabeth continued working in St. Louis, where she earned enough to pay off her loan. While she was professionally successful, her private life still suffered emotional blows, it was at this time that she lost her beloved mother & she discovered that her husband wasn't the freed man he'd claimed to be, but a runaway fugitive slave. The couple officially separated in 1860.

That same year, Elizabeth moved to Washington, D.C; using her network of clients in St. Louis customers, she established herself as a dressmaker in the American capital, achieving much the same success she had in St. Louis.  She did work for some of the city's most prominent women including, Varina Davis, the wife of Mississippi Senator, Jefferson Davis &  Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee. A year later, she was introduced to the incumbent first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, whom she impressed with her prowess & patience. Mrs. Lincoln was so impressed in fact, she hired Elizabeth as her personal dressmaker; making her 15 dresses in just the first few months of her employment.

During her time in the White House, Elizabeth bore witness to much of the Lincoln's domestic life. She was present when the Lincoln's young son, Willie, died in 1862; Elizabeth was also dealing with her own grief,  as her son had been killed 6 months earlier fighting in the Union Army during the Civil War. The shared experience of losing a child, brought Elizabeth & Mary even closer together & Elizabeth soon became a trusted confidante of the first lady. In addition to her work as Mary's seamstress, Elizabeth maintained her business. She also helped found the Contraband Relief Association, in 1862; the organization provided aid to those escaping slavery. Elizabeth utilized her position in the White House in order to receive donations from the Lincolns & other influential figures like Frederick Douglass & Wendell Phillips.

After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Elizabeth accompanied Mary to Chicago, Illinois; but the pair soon parted ways, so Elizabeth could return to her business in Washington. The next year, Mary wrote to Elizabeth asking for her help in paying off some debts, so they decided to anonymously sell the former first lady's jewelry & dresses, in Washington. But they were convinced by an auctioneer, to reveal the items real owner in order to fetch higher prices. Once the auction reached the newspapers, it was criticized as "a tacky scheme" & the two women were left feeling utterly humiliated.

In 1868, Elizabeth published her memoir, Behind the Scenes/ 30 Years a Slave & 4 years in the White House. However, Mary interpreted the memoir as a "disrespectful tell-all" & the friendship between the two women fell apart. In the ensuing years, Elizabeth continued working in Washington but in 1892, she accepted a position as the head of the Department of Sewing & Domestic Service, at her son's former school, Wilberforce University, in Ohio; which was one of the first black universities. But she retired the following year, possibly after suffering a stroke & moved back to Washington.

Elizabeth Keckley died on May 26, 1907, in the National Home for Destitute Colored Women & Children (now the Merriweather Home for Children), in Washington; she had helped found the organization decades earlier. Although her memoir was poorly received in the 19th century, it later became an important commentary on President Lincoln's marriage & the division over the practice of slavery during the American Civil War.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Keckley