by Carmen Doyle
Mary Todd Lincoln is one of the most well-known First
Ladies and almost always criticized. Her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, was
born into slavery but worked her way out of it to become one of the most sought dressmakers
in D.C.
Behind the Scenes in
the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress is
Keckley’s autobiography, from her birth as a slave to working as a successful
dressmaker and becoming a confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln.
Elizabeth is very eloquent, explaining how she was born into
slavery “therefore I came upon the earth free in God-like thought, but fettered
in action.” Her early years are heartbreaking, as she tells how her father was
the slave of another man and only allowed to visit at Christmas and Easter. At
one point, her father was going to be allowed to live with her mother
full-time, but instead his master went further south, and she never saw him
again. Elizabeth has some excerpts of his letters to her mother. He writes he
hopes to see her again and hopes that someone headed north will take him along
so he can visit. Elizabeth tells how her mother had a lot to do; making clothes
for the owner and family, as well as all the slaves, so Elizabeth determined to
learn to sew in order to help her mother. There are other incidents that
clearly tell of the cruelty of slavery, such as that she was persecuted for
four years by a white man with “base designs”, which led to Elizabeth becoming
a mother.
Elizabeth tells how she gained her freedom through her
sewing, managing to raise $1200 from clients in order to buy the freedom of her
and her son. All the money she received was paid back. The book includes the
receipts from clients contributing to her freedom, and the receipt for the
freedom of Elizabeth and her son.
The story gets very interesting when Elizabeth goes to D.C.
She acquires some prominent clients, including the wife of Senator Jefferson
Davis. One interesting anecdote that Elizabeth recounts is how years later, she
was at a fair and there was a wax figure of Jefferson Davis in a dress (it was
reported untruthfully that was how he was captured) Upon close inspection,
Elizabeth discovered that the dress he was in was actually one of the “chintz
wrappers” that she had made Mrs. Davis.
One of Elizabeth’s goals was to work in the White House and
she is recommended to Mary Todd Lincoln, becoming her dressmaker and
confidante. Most of the book takes place in the White House, working for Mrs.
Lincoln. Elizabeth tells of how she met the President and how Mrs. Lincoln
seemed to accidentally hurt him often. Although it is easy to see how Mrs.
Lincoln often came across as vain, Elizabeth portrays her in a sympathetic
light. Mrs. Lincoln did run up more expenses than the President’s salary could
afford, and she didn’t tell him about it. Since Mrs. Lincoln was aware that her
every move was scrutinized, she wanted to appear at her best at all times.
As Mrs. Lincoln’s friend, Elizabeth observes many events.
One of the saddest things she witnesses is the death of Willie Lincoln. A
doctor had been called and said Willie gave every indication of an early
recovery, and that the reception which the Lincolns had planned should go on.
Willie grew worse and during the reception Mrs. Lincoln often went up to check
on him. But he still grew worse and soon died.
President Lincoln is not always portrayed in a positive
light. When Mrs. Lincoln was in “one of her paroxysms of grief” the President
tells her that if she doesn’t control herself, she will be driven mad, and have
to be put in the lunatic asylum. One person who never comes off in a positive
light is Robert Lincoln, not just in refusing to go to a reception for Tom
Thumb, but later after the President’s death in complaining about the smallness
of the apartments that they were in and refusing to let Tad go to town with
him. Unfortunately, the book ends in 1867, after the death of Lincoln, but
before the death of Tad and before Robert’s marriage and Mary being declared
insane.
As might be expected in a book written by a dressmaker, there are
descriptions of clothes, but there are no pictures of these clothes. Mrs.
Lincoln later tried to sell some of her expensive clothes in order to raise
money for her living expenses, so there are lists of what she was trying to
sell, but again, no pictures, so it is difficult to try and figure out what
Mrs. Lincoln was wearing. (The Lincoln
Financial Collection has photos of Mary Todd, but it’s difficult to tell if any
of the dresses she is photographed in were ones that Elizabeth made or if they
were ones she later tried to sell)
Elizabeth tells of
her accomplishments too, such as starting a relief fund for colored soldiers,
but it’s really the First Family that is the most interesting facet of the book.
Behind the Scenes in
the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress is a
great read, particularly because it is a contemporary account of Mary Todd
Lincoln, one of the most maligned First Ladies.The book is available for sale at the History Center.
