1. Who are you? (Name, Age)
2. Where are you? (Location in USA)
3. What is the date?(a specific date as well as one contemporary event from the periods to give your narrative historical context)
4. In your experience, does our democratic government establish equality among Americans? (Explain your answer)
5.What are the challenges to equality that you or those around you experience? How are those challenges overcome?
Washington D.C.-1861 Elizabeth Keckley As I walk up the stairs to the room where I will wait for an appointment with the soon to be First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, who is in search of a dressmaker to serve her while she lives in the White House. Mrs. John McClean, one of my former customers when I had my shop in the Walker Lewis Boardinghouse in Washington D.C., had come to me last minute and asked me for a dress and in return she would arrange a meeting with Mrs. Lincoln. I was so worried about that business when I met Mrs. McClean. “Work came in slowly, and I was begriming to feel very much embarrassed, for I did not know how I was to meet bills staring me in the face … the bills were small, but they were formidable to me, who had little or nothing to pay them with,” I remember telling my first real customer, Mrs. Lee (the wife of Captain Robert E. Lee). After making Mrs. Lee a lovely dress, she wore it to party, and after the party I was bombarded with customers, including Mrs. McClean. Finally, I could pay off my bills and help my son, George, with his finances, who was now twenty-one, and a freshman at Wilberforce University. Now that I had all my finances in order, I could follow a long personal dream I had of working, or living in the White House, thanks to my loyal customers. After walking up what felt like 200 flights of stairs, I reach the room I was assigned to, Parlor 6 on the second floor, my heart thumping, thoughts whizz through my mind, “What if she doesn’t like me? What if I pass out? Will she like my work?” I open my eyes to the beautiful room in front of me, and I see two free white women who are up for the same job as me. I think back to when I was a slave, before I paid $1,200 to become free with my son George. For 37 years I was a slave, I was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in 1818 as a slave in the household of the Hobbs, and at the age of 13 years old I was cruelly moved away from my dear mother, to the house of Burwell. After having a baby, George, in 1839, and a year later I was moved to the plantation owed by Burwell’s sister, who lived near by, separated from my mother and new born bundle of joy, and I was not allowed to see them for 4 years. And then again I was moved to Missouri to serve for another ten or so years, and then I finally bought the freedom that allowed me to stand in this room competing for the same spot as two free white women. I felt that that with out eve being give a shot at the job, the fact that they were white, free women completely vanquished all chances I had at my dream of working in the White House. I breath in, I tell my self, “Lizzie if you cam have a child, live through slavery, deal with countless bills, abuse from former owners, be a black woman during a time period where you are looked at like a piece of trash, the least of your worries should be Mary Todd Lincoln.” I step into the room to see Mary wearing a cashmere morning robe, standing looking out the widow. My shoes hit the ground of the hard wood floor, and Mary slowly turns her head and looks at me, “Mrs. Keckley, you have come at least,” Ms. Lincoln says with a sigh of relief. From that moment on we were friends, friends that society would never accept. At that moment I had no idea that I would make the dresses that would make her one of the best dressed first ladies, be the only person she could talk to, have her personally be there with me to help relieve my grief when my son would die, be there when her children were sick, help keep her same after the loss of her child, make her beautiful mantuas, and even be there when Mary thought I was a traitor. I had no idea that I would become that one person that Mary Todd Lincoln would turn to in her times of need, and never ever would I dream of calling Mary my dearest friend. –Lydia pd. 1
Works Cited Collins, David R. Shattered Dreams: The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Dorothy, Schneider. “Slave Work: 1619–1865.” Slavery in America, American Experience, Revised Edition. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. . Kranz, Rachel. “Keckley, Elizabeth.” African-American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, A to Z of African Americans. 2004. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. . Rutberg, Becky. Mary Lincoln’s Dressmaker. Markham, Ontario: Thomas Allen & Son Canada, 1995. Print. Victoria, Sherrow. “Keckley, Elizabeth.” A to Z of American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, A to Z of Women. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. . Lydia Period 1 Part 2
Washington D.C.-1861
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Keckley
As I walk up the stairs to the room where I will wait for an appointment with the soon to be First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, who is in search of a dressmaker to serve her while she lives in the White House. Mrs. John McClean, one of my former customers when I had my shop in the Walker Lewis Boardinghouse in Washington D.C., had come to me last minute and asked me for a dress and in return she would arrange a meeting with Mrs. Lincoln. I was so worried about that business when I met Mrs. McClean. “Work came in slowly, and I was begriming to feel very much embarrassed, for I did not know how I was to meet bills staring me in the face … the bills were small, but they were formidable to me, who had little or nothing to pay them with,” I remember telling my first real customer, Mrs. Lee (the wife of Captain Robert E. Lee). After making Mrs. Lee a lovely dress, she wore it to party, and after the party I was bombarded with customers, including Mrs. McClean. Finally, I could pay off my bills and help my son, George, with his finances, who was now twenty-one, and a freshman at Wilberforce University. Now that I had all my finances in order, I could follow a long personal dream I had of working, or living in the White House, thanks to my loyal customers.
After walking up what felt like 200 flights of stairs, I reach the room I was assigned to, Parlor 6 on the second floor, my heart thumping, thoughts whizz through my mind, “What if she doesn’t like me? What if I pass out? Will she like my work?” I open my eyes to the beautiful room in front of me, and I see two free white women who are up for the same job as me. I think back to when I was a slave, before I paid $1,200 to become free with my son George. For 37 years I was a slave, I was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in 1818 as a slave in the household of the Hobbs, and at the age of 13 years old I was cruelly moved away from my dear mother, to the house of Burwell. After having a baby, George, in 1839, and a year later I was moved to the plantation owed by Burwell’s sister, who lived near by, separated from my mother and new born bundle of joy, and I was not allowed to see them for 4 years. And then again I was moved to Missouri to serve for another ten or so years, and then I finally bought the freedom that allowed me to stand in this room competing for the same spot as two free white women. I felt that that with out eve being give a shot at the job, the fact that they were white, free women completely vanquished all chances I had at my dream of working in the White House.
I breath in, I tell my self, “Lizzie if you cam have a child, live through slavery, deal with countless bills, abuse from former owners, be a black woman during a time period where you are looked at like a piece of trash, the least of your worries should be Mary Todd Lincoln.” I step into the room to see Mary wearing a cashmere morning robe, standing looking out the widow. My shoes hit the ground of the hard wood floor, and Mary slowly turns her head and looks at me, “Mrs. Keckley, you have come at least,” Ms. Lincoln says with a sigh of relief. From that moment on we were friends, friends that society would never accept. At that moment I had no idea that I would make the dresses that would make her one of the best dressed first ladies, be the only person she could talk to, have her personally be there with me to help relieve my grief when my son would die, be there when her children were sick, help keep her same after the loss of her child, make her beautiful mantuas, and even be there when Mary thought I was a traitor. I had no idea that I would become that one person that Mary Todd Lincoln would turn to in her times of need, and never ever would I dream of calling Mary my dearest friend. –Lydia pd. 1
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteCollins, David R. Shattered Dreams: The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Dorothy, Schneider. “Slave Work: 1619–1865.” Slavery in America, American Experience, Revised Edition. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
Kranz, Rachel. “Keckley, Elizabeth.” African-American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, A to Z of African Americans. 2004. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
Rutberg, Becky. Mary Lincoln’s Dressmaker. Markham, Ontario: Thomas Allen & Son Canada, 1995. Print.
Victoria, Sherrow. “Keckley, Elizabeth.” A to Z of American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, A to Z of Women. African-American History Online. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
Lydia Period 1 Part 2