Elizabeth Keckley
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born in February of 1818 and died in May of 1907. She was the daughter of a slave and a "privileged slave." She learned how to read and write, even though it was illegal for slaves to be able to read and write. She became a successful seamstress and bought her freedom. She was also a civil activist and an author in Washington D.C. Elizabeth Keckley was famous for being the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln.
After the Civil War, she wrote an autobiography titled, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, a slave narrative and a portrait of the First Family.
"For an act may be wrong judged purely by itself, but when the motive that prompted the act is understood, it is construed differently. I lay it down as an axiom, that only that is criminal in the sight of God where crime is meditated"
After the Civil War, she wrote an autobiography titled, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, a slave narrative and a portrait of the First Family.
"For an act may be wrong judged purely by itself, but when the motive that prompted the act is understood, it is construed differently. I lay it down as an axiom, that only that is criminal in the sight of God where crime is meditated"