![]() Political nemeses seized on the opportunity to publicly mock Lincoln, who was seen as an “extravagant and improper” social climber, for her “pecuniary embarrassment ,” treating the public auction of her clothing as a spectacle akin to the World Fair.2 Eventually, the former First Lady was forced to retreat to her home in Chicago, leaving Keckley behind to tend to her affairs. ![]() Accompanying the recently widowed socialite was her self-described “modiste” and “confidante ” Elizabeth Keckley, a formerly enslaved African American dressmaker who had been “intimately associated” with Lincoln for years.1 Despite the various measures undertaken to ensure the scheme’s success, including attempts to extort monied East Coast Republicans and strategic appeals to the press, it ultimately proved fruitless. She hoped to sell select pieces from her famed wardrobe in order to supplement her income, which was, at the time, rather meager. ![]() © 2021 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 15 Candice Lyons Behind the Scenes: Elizabeth Keckley, Slave Narratives, and the Queer Complexities of Space In the fall of 1867-just two years after the conclusion of the American Civil War-former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, finding herself in dire financial straits, traveled incognito to New York. ![]() ![]() In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:įeminist Studies 47, no. ![]()
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