Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress (Civil War)

Marc Notes:
Unabridged republication of the work originally published in 1868 by G.W. Carleton & Co., Publishers, New York, under the title Behind the scenes, Or Thirty years a slave, and four years in the White House.

Table of Contents:
Preface
I. Where I was born
II. Girlhood and its Sorrows
III. How I gained my Freedom
IV. In the Family of Senator Jefferson Davis
V. My Introduction to Mrs. Lincoln
VI. Willie Lincoln's Death-bed
VII. Washington in 1862-3
VIII. Candid Opinions
IX. Behind the Scenes
X. The Second Inauguration
XI. The Assassination of President Lincoln
XII. Mrs. Lincoln leaves the White House
XIII. The Origin of the Rivalry between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln
XIV. Old Friends
XV. The Secret History of Mrs. Lincoln's Wardrobe in New York
Appendix--Letters from Mrs. Lincoln to Mrs. Keckley

Publisher Marketing:
Born a slave in Virginia, Elizabeth Keckley (c. 1824-1907) went on to become a talented dressmaker and designer, with some twenty employees of her own. Catering to the wives, daughters, and sisters of Washington's political elite, she included among her clientele Mary Todd Lincoln, who became her close friend and confidante.
Keckley's behind-the-scenes view of wartime Washington not only provides fascinating glimpses of nineteenth-century America, but also offers candid observations on interracial relationships and the free black middle class. Here also are absorbing details of life in the Lincoln White House, as well as an insider's perspective on the men who made Civil War politics and the women who influenced them. A touching and revelatory work, filled with incisive social commentary, this inspiring narrative by an admirable woman will be an important addition to the libraries of anyone interested in African-American and Civil War history.