A highly skilled seamstress, Keckley bought freedom for her and her son and went on to build a profitable business, which led to her close relationship with First-Lady Mary Lincoln, co-founding of the Contraband Relief Association, directing the Department of Sewing and Domestic Science Arts at Wilberforce University, and organizing a dress reform exhibit for the University at the Chicago World's Fair.
Year: 1868
Who: Elizabeth Keckley (1818 – 1907)
Where: Washington, D.C.
What: Elizabeth Keckley was a remarkable figure whose sewing skills and entrepreneurial spirit enabled her to transcend the oppression of slavery and achieve freedom and prominence in American society. Born enslaved in Virginia, Keckley learned to sew at the age of four, a skill that would become her path to liberation. Despite enduring severe abuse, she excelled as a seamstress and was eventually hired out to generate income for her enslavers. Determined to gain freedom for herself and her son, she saved diligently and, in 1855, purchased their emancipation for $1,200—a monumental achievement.
After obtaining her freedom, Keckley moved to Baltimore, teaching dressmaking to young African American women, and later settled in Washington, D.C., where her exceptional skill garnered attention from the city’s elite. Her work reached the White House when Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, commissioned Keckley to create her gown for the 1861 inaugural ball. This commission marked the beginning of a close professional and personal relationship between Keckley and the First Lady. As Mary Lincoln’s modiste and confidante, Keckley crafted exquisite dresses and provided emotional support during Lincoln’s presidency and after his assassination.
In addition to her dressmaking, Keckley co-founded the Contraband Relief Association, an organization dedicated to aiding formerly enslaved individuals escaping to freedom. In 1868, she published her controversial memoir, Behind the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House, offering a rare, candid glimpse into the Lincoln White House and her life story. Although groundbreaking, the book was met with backlash, damaging her business.
Keckley’s later years included directing the Department of Sewing and Domestic Science Arts at Wilberforce University and organizing a dress reform exhibit for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Her intricate quilt of silk dress fabrics, now at the Kent State University Museum, remains a testament to her artistry and resilience.
Sources:
Websites:
Textile Research Centre Leiden. (n.d.). Sewing for Freedom: Elizabeth Keckley. https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/102-news/1057-sewing-for-freedom-elizabeth-keckley
White House Historical Association. (n.d.). From Slavery to the White House: The Extraordinary Life of Elizabeth Keckley. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/from-slavery-to-the-white-house-the-extraordinary-life-of-elizabeth-keckly