Explore
Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years and Slave, and Four Years in the White House
Elizabeth Keckley
2013
0 Ungluers have
Faved this Work
Login to Fave
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
Why unglue this book? Have your say.
You must be logged in to comment.
Rights Information
Are you the author or publisher of this work? If so, you can claim it as yours by registering as an Unglue.it rights holder.Keywords
- African American women
- Biography
- Biography & Autobiography
- Black Women
- Dressmakers
- Employees
- History
- Nonfiction
- Relations with African Americans
- Slaves
- Women slaves
Editions
Share
Copy/paste this into your site: