Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House
About this audiobook
An autobiographical narrative, Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House traces Elizabeth Keckley's life from her enslavement in Virginia and North Carolina to her time as seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House during Abraham Lincoln's administration. It was quite controversial at the time of its release—an uncompromising work that transgressed Victorian boundaries between public and private life, and lines of race, gender, and society.
About the author
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818–1907) was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civic activist, and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. She had moved to Washington in 1860 after buying her freedom and that of her son in St. Louis. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee. Her books included Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, which was published in 1868.
Bobbie Frohman, a third generation Californian, was raised in a large extended family, the niece of cowboys. Early on she developed a deep love of animals, training her dogs to perform with her at dog shows, and as a competitive barrel racer with her beloved horse, Lucky.
