Author: Jennifer Fleischner
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307419150
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397
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Book Description
A vibrant social history set against the backdrop of the Antebellum south and the Civil War that recreates the lives and friendship of two exceptional women: First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her mulatto dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckly. “I consider you my best living friend,” Mary Lincoln wrote to Elizabeth Keckly in 1867, and indeed theirs was a close, if tumultuous, relationship. Born into slavery, mulatto Elizabeth Keckly was Mary Lincoln’s dressmaker, confidante, and mainstay during the difficult years that the Lincolns occupied the White House and the early years of Mary’s widowhood. But she was a fascinating woman in her own right, Lizzy had bought her freedom in 1855 and come to Washington determined to make a life for herself. She was independent and already well-established as the dressmaker to the Washington elite when she was first hired by Mary Lincoln upon her arrival in the nation’s capital. Mary Lincoln hired Lizzy in part because she was considered a “high society” seamstress and Mary, as an outsider in Washington’s social circles, was desperate for social cachet. With her husband struggling to keep the nation together, Mary turned increasingly to her seamstress for companionship, support, and advice—and over the course of those trying years, Lizzy Keckly became her confidante and closest friend. Historian Jennifer Fleischner allows us to glimpse the intimate dynamics of this unusual friendship for the first time, and traces the pivotal events that enabled these two women to forge such an unlikely bond at a time when relations between blacks and whites were tearing the nation apart. Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly is a remarkable work of scholarship that explores the legacy of slavery and sheds new light on the Lincoln White House.
Author: Elizabeth Keckley
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195060843
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408
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Book Description
Part slave narrative, part memoir, and part sentimental fiction Behind the Scenes depicts Elizabeth Keckley's years as a salve and subsequent four years in Abraham Lincoln's White House during the Civil War. Through the eyes of this black woman, we see a wide range of historical figures and events of the antebellum South, the Washington of the Civil War years, and the final stages of the war.
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Publisher: Dutton
ISBN: 0142180351
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 381
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Book Description
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini's compelling historical novel unveils the private lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln through the perspective of the First Lady's most trusted confidante and friend, her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley. In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American history, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, she earned her freedom by the skill of her needle, and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln by her devotion. A sweeping historical novel, Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker illuminates the extraordinary relationship the two women shared, beginning in the hallowed halls of the White House during the trials of the Civil War and enduring almost, but not quite, to the end of Mrs. Lincoln's days.
Author: Catherine Clinton
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060760419
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 436
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Book Description
Abraham Lincoln is the most revered president in American history, but the woman at the center of his life—his wife, Mary—has remained a historical enigma. One of the most tragic and mysterious of nineteenth-century figures, Mary Lincoln and her story symbolize the pain and loss of Civil War America. Authoritative and utterly engrossing, Mrs. Lincoln is the long-awaited portrait of the woman who so richly contributed to Lincoln's life and legacy.
Author: Connie Schofield-Morrison
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN: 0823439631
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50
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Book Description
An awe-inspiring African American woman! A talented seamstress, born a slave, bought freedom for herself and her son. This picture book biography weaves together historical details, vibrant collages, and the words of her own journals to bring to light the life and beautiful work Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the seamstress who bought herself and son out of slavery. Lizzy’s story of hardship and resilience offers an untold side of history during a time of great injustice and change. Born enslaved in 1818 on a Virginian plantation, Lizzy experienced and witnessed unspeakable cruelty. When she was sent to workfor a tailor, her wages went to her master, not Lizzy. However, the beautiful gowns that Lizzy created attracted the attention of the wealthiest women in Virginia, even Mrs. Jefferson Davis. With money from her patrons, Lizzy bought her freedom and her son’s freedom working tirelessly stitch by stitch, going on to design gowns for the First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and grow an influentialcareer. This inspiring story about an unsung hero is beautifully illustrated with oil paint, cut paper and fabric collage and hand-embroidery by Elizabeth Zunon that brings Lizzy’s dresses to life. Connie Morrison writes with straightforward honesty and clarity, seamlesslyincluding research on fashion, life, and politics of the time. The backmatter includes a bibliography for further reading.
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101657960
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 81
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Book Description
Cassie witnesses a black man address a white storekeeper by his first name. "A powerful story . . .Readers will be haunted by its drama and emotion long after they have closed the book." --Booklist
Author: Jennifer Fleischner
Publisher: Missouri History Museum
ISBN: 1883982588
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 112
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Book Description
George, a young slave living in St. Louis, Missouri, wrestles with the injustices he sees around him as he decides whether or not to flee his accustomed life and seek freedom.
Author: John E. Washington
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190270977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369
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Book Description
Originally published in 1942 and now reprinted for the first time, They Knew Lincoln is a classic in African American history and Lincoln studies. Part memoir and part history, the book is an account of John E. Washington's childhood among African Americans in Washington, DC, and of the black people who knew or encountered Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Washington recounted stories told by his grandmother's elderly friends--stories of escaping from slavery, meeting Lincoln in the Capitol, learning of the president's assassination, and hearing ghosts at Ford's Theatre. He also mined the US government archives and researched little-known figures in Lincoln's life, including William Johnson, who accompanied Lincoln from Springfield to Washington, and William Slade, the steward in Lincoln's White House. Washington was fascinated from childhood by the question of how much African Americans themselves had shaped Lincoln's views on slavery and race, and he believed Lincoln's Haitian-born barber, William de Fleurville, was a crucial influence. Washington also extensively researched Elizabeth Keckly, the dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln, and advanced a new theory of who helped her write her controversial book, Behind the Scenes, A new introduction by Kate Masur places Washington's book in its own context, explaining the contents of They Knew Lincoln in light of not only the era of emancipation and the Civil War, but also Washington's own times, when the nation's capital was a place of great opportunity and creativity for members of the African American elite. On publication, a reviewer noted that the "collection of Negro stories, memories, legends about Lincoln" seemed "to fill such an obvious gap in the material about Lincoln that one wonders why no one ever did it before." This edition brings it back to print for a twenty-first century readership that remains fascinated with Abraham Lincoln.
Author: Elizabeth Keckley
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1329430905
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
Elizabeth Keckley's Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House is both a riveting slave narrative and a fascinating insider's look at the First Family during the Lincoln administration. Keckley was the First Lady's seamstress and confidante and the publication of her memoirs in 1868 caused a storm of controversy. The press excoriated Keckley for revealing the intimate secrets of her employers and Mary Todd Lincoln cut off her friendship with Keckley. Lincoln's eldest son had the book suppressed.
Author: Ann Rinaldi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0152055975
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
Rinaldi delves into the childhood friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and black seamstress Elizabeth Keckley--two fascinating women who became devoted friends and confidantes amid the turbulent times of the Lincoln administration.
