Behind the Scenes; Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House
1868
Behind the Scenes; Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House
1868
In 1862, a formerly enslaved woman from Virginia walked into the White House carrying a needle and thread. Within months, she would become Mary Todd Lincoln's most trusted confidante, the woman who dressed the First Family during the Civil War and witnessed history from inside the mansion's private rooms. Elizabeth Keckley's memoir is the only surviving account written by a Black woman who lived inside the Lincoln White House, and its candor scandalized the nation when it was published in 1868. Keckley writes of her childhood in Virginia, ripped from her mother at fourteen and sold to a series of owners. She describes her grueling path to freedom, working as a dressmaker in Washington D.C. and eventually purchasing not only her own liberty but her son's. The book reveals the Lincolns in moments of private grief and political desperation, offering a perspective no historian could fabricate. This is essential American history told in a voice that was never supposed to exist.
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“None of us are perfect, for which reason we should heed the voice of charity when it whispers in our ears, "Do not magnify the imperfections of others.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“An act may be wrong, but unless the ruling power recognizes the wrong, it is useless to hope for a correction of it.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“I was regarded as fair-looking for one of my race, and for four years a white man”
— Elizabeth Keckley
“Besides, I have determined that””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“Just then both goats looked up at the window and shook their heads as if they would say "How d'ye do, old friend?" "See, Madam Elizabeth," exclaimed the President in a tone of enthusiasm, "my pets recognize me. How earnestly they look! There they go again; what jolly fun!" and he laughed outright as the goats bounded swiftly to the other side of the yard. Just then Mrs. Lincoln called out, "Come, Lizabeth; if I get ready to go down this evening I must finish dressing myself, or you must stop staring at those silly goats.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“No; eternal slavery rather than be regarded with distrust by those whose respect I esteemed.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“These revolting scenes created a great sensation at the time, were the talk of the town and neighborhood, and I flatter myself that the actions of those who had conspired against me were not viewed in a light to reflect much credit upon them.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“What a sublime picture was this! A ruler of a mighty nation going to the pages of the Bible with simple Christian earnestness for comfort and courage, and finding both in the darkest hours of a nation’s calamity. Ponder it, O ye scoffers at God’s Holy Word, and then hang your heads for very shame!””
— Elizabeth Keckley
“Mrs. Lincoln firmly believes that Mr. Johnson was concerned in the assassination plot.””
— Elizabeth Keckley
