Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (or Keckly) was a former slave turned successful seamstress who is most notably known as being Mary Todd Lincoln's personal dressmaker and confidante. Her story is recounted in her autobiography, Behind the Scenes Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave to the Burwell family in February 1818 in Dinwiddie Courthouse, Virginia. She learned to read and write despite the fact that it was illegal for slaves to do so. When she was fourteen she was sent to work for his son, Robert Burwell, a Presbyterian minister. Burwell, along with his wife, operated the Burwell School, a boarding school for girls in Hillsborough, North Carolina (a National Trust 2007 Dozen Distinctive Destination). The Burwell School attracted young girls from prominent North Carolina families. The Burwell School Historic Site is now a house museum that actively interprets the school’s history and Keckley’s life there as a slave. In 2005, the Town of Hillsborough dedicated an historic marker recognizing Keckley. 
After several unhappy years with Robert Burwell and his family, Keckley was sent to live in St. Louis with Anne Burwell Garland, a married daughter of the Burwells. She began a dressmaking business in order to support the Garland family. She developed a loyal clientele among many of the socially prominent woken of St. Louis. In 1855, with the help of her patrons, she was able to buy her own freedom and that of her son George.
She first moved to Baltimore, where she started a school for young black girls to teach them sewing and etiquette. She moved to Washington, DC in 1860 where she worked for Robert E. Lee’s and Jefferson Davis's wives among others. Elizabeth Keckley was introduced to Mary Todd Lincoln on March 4, 1861, the day of Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration. She became Lincoln's close companion, personal dressmaker and confidante.
She became a prominent figure in the Washington, DC black community, organizing relief and educational programs for emancipated slaves. She co-founded and served as president of the Contraband Relief Association, for which she received frequent contributions from both President and Mr. Lincoln.
Elizabeth Keckley died in May 1907 while a resident of the National Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children in Washington, DC. The Home was located on Euclid St. NW. There is a plaque across the street from the location commemorating her life. The dress that Mary Todd Lincoln commissioned for her husband’s inauguration is housed in the Smithsonian's American History Museum.
Lauri Michel is vice president of community revitalization at National Trust for Historic Preservation.
