Arts
Elizabeth Keckley wrote Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (1868) to call attention to the struggles newly freed slaves faced when they arrived in Washington. Her role as a seamstress in the White House afforded her a unique perspective on their lives and the life of the first lady. The book was not well received because of the widespread belief that it violated the privacy of the former first lady.