Contraband Relief
While principally celebrated for its revelations concerning domestic life in the Lincoln White House, Elizabeth Keckley’s Behind the Scenes (1868) also provides insights on the activities of the African American community in Washington, DC. Keckley (sometimes spelled Keckly), a former slave and the dressmaker to First Lady Mary Lincoln, became sensitive to the hardships faced by the 40,000 refugees from slavery who flooded into the nation’s capital during the war, often lacking the most basic necessities of life. In 1862, Keckley founded and became first president of the Contraband Relief Association. Utilizing her White House connections, she was able to draw financial and moral support from such prominent figures as Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, and the President and Mrs. Lincoln.
(Transcription)
We approached the sentinel on duty at the gate . . .
While principally celebrated for its revelations concerning domestic life in the Lincoln White House, Elizabeth Keckley’s <em>Behind the Scenes</em> (1868) also provides insights on the activities of the African American community in Washington, DC. Keckley (sometimes spelled Keckly), a former slave and the dressmaker to First Lady Mary Lincoln, became sensitive to the hardships faced by the 40,000 refugees from slavery who flooded into the nation’s capital during the war, often lacking the most basic necessities of life. In 1862, Keckley founded and became first president of the Contraband Relief Association. Utilizing her White House connections, she was able to draw financial and moral support from such prominent figures as Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, and the President and Mrs. Lincoln.