Part slave narrative, part memoir, and part sentimental fiction, Behind the Scenes depicts Elizabeth Keckley's years as a slave and subsequent four years in Abraham Lincoln's White House during the Civil War. As public drama privately experienced, Keckley's work presents Jefferson Davis and his wife, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, and even Stephen Douglas and "Mrs. Senator Douglas" in the foreground, with the war, and slavery as the issue that precipitated it, in the background. Through the eyes of this black woman--an ex-slave, seamstress, and dressmaker--we see a wide range of...

Born into slavery, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley rose to a position of respect as a talented dressmaker and designer to the political elite of Washington, DC, and a confidante of First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln. This memoir offers a behind-the-scenes view of the formal and informal networks that African Americans established among themselves.

Behind the Scenes: or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years int he White House was first published in 1868 and is considered one of the most candid and poignant slave narratives

Elizabeth Keckley 's rise from slave to White House confidante makes for an involving story that details the cruel and terrible life for those in slavery, and the drive and determination of a woman who would not let others destroy her will. Behind the Sce

Behind the scenes formerly a slave, but more recently modiste, and friend to Mrs. Lincoln, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House is an autobiography of a former slave who obtained her freedom in 1855 at age thirty. The book discusses the reconstruction era. The author describes how being a skillful seamstress led her to become the confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln during the Lincolns' years in the White House.

Behind the Scenes is the life story of Elizabeth Keckley, a shrewd entrepreneur who, while enslaved, raised enough money to purchase freedom for herself and her son. Keckley moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a seamstress and dressmaker for the wives of influential politicians. She eventually became a close confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. Several years after President Lincoln's assassination, when Mrs. Lincoln's financial situation had worsened, Keckley helped organize an auction of the former first lady's dresses, eliciting strong criticism from members of the Washington...

This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This book "BEHIND THE SCENES" scenes is the equivalent of a modern day expose on the part of an individual that has access to one of the most powerful families at that time in history including the associated networks. It is said that Keckley, who was the first African-American dressmaker and confidente was only trying to help her friend raises finances with this publication, after she realised that the her best friend was left without any financial support, after her husband President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Though Keckley anticipated some disapproval for publishing personal...