Behind the Scenes : Or, Thirty Years a Slave,

This fascinating autobiography describes one woman's life as a slave and subsequently her four years in Lincoln's White House during the Civil War. Through the eyes of this black woman, a seamstress and dressmaker who was only a few years removed from being a 'slave for life', we see historical figures and events ranging from the Lincolns in their private chambers to the return to Richmond after the fall of the Confederate capital.

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818-û1907) was born a slave near Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia, and, after purchasing her freedom, became head of the Domestic Science Department at Wilberforce University in Ohio.
William L. Andrews is E. Maynard Adams Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of To Tell a Free Story and editor or coeditor of more than thirty books on African American literature.

Note on the Text

vi

Introduction

vii

Suggestions for Further Reading

xxiii

BEHIND THE SCENES

Preface

3

(4)

Where I was born

7

(6)

Girlhood and its Sorrows

13

(6)

How I gained my Freedom

19

(9)

In the Family of Senator Jefferson Davis

28

(6)

My Introduction to Mrs. Lincoln

34

(7)

Willie Lincoln's Death-bed

41

(9)

Washington in 1862--3

50

(7)

Candid Opinions

57

(5)

Behind the Scenes

62

(6)

The Second Inauguration

68

(9)

The Assassination of President Lincoln

77

(12)

Mrs. Lincoln leaves the White House

89

(12)

The Origin of the Rivalry between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln

101

(5)

Old Friends

106

(13)

The Secret History of Mrs. Lincoln's Wardrobe in New York

119

(28)

Appendix---Letters from Mrs. Lincoln to Mrs. Keckley

147

(18)

Explanatory Notes

165

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Behind the Scenes : Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials