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Elizabeth Keckley- Annie Hanchett

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    Elizabeth Keckley’s incredible story starts from the very beginning when she was born a slave in 1818. Her hard work and perseverance led her to become an author, well-known seamstress, and most importantly, a powerful civil rights activist. From a young age Elizabeth was brutally beaten and mistreated for years- and during all of this she began to sew. Her self-taught skills as a seamstress lead her to make clothes for people to purchase and helped support her family of seventeen. Elizabeth and her son moved to Washington D.C. where she began her dressmaking business which eventually employed 20 other seamstresses. She created garments for wives of well-known politicians, and most famously Mary Todd Lincoln.

    Elizabeth was not only known for her fashion design, but also for establishing the Contraband Relief Association which provided clothing, medical care, food, and shelter to recently freed slaves. The association received funding from many well-known and wealthy individuals such as both Lincolns. Elizabeth published her detailed autobiography in 1868 titled ‘Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.’



    Elizabeth’s extraordinary talent was shown through her beautiful Victorian dresses. Her style was sophisticated and clean, she often excluded lace or other decorations. Her capability to work with a multitude of different styles that came to her with each of her clients made her very well-known in the Washington D.C. area.



This violet dress that Elizabeth designed for Mary Todd Lincoln is showcased in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum.


This floral and striped dress was also designed by Elizabeth for Mary Todd Lincoln and is showcased in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum.



    Elizabeth Keckley’s life story and the way she turned such a horrifying life situation into something beautiful where she worked to help people who were coming out of slavery start a new life of opportunity is inspiring to not only designers but activists all over the world. Elizabeth used her skills to not only create a place for other black seamstresses to work, but helped provide them with lifelong skills that would allow them to make money and have careers out of. Her dedication to newly freed slaves and their families showed her loving heart and is the compassion that each and every one of us should find inspiration from and strive to be like not only as designers but humans. Elizabeth’s response to newly-freed slaves was to welcome them with open arms through her Association which helped them build their lives after leaving slavery. 


References


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-story-of-elizabeth-keckley-former-slave-turned-mrs-lincolns-dressmaker-41112782/


https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/elizabeth-keckley-businesswoman-and-philanthropist


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