March is National Women's History Month, which was established in 1987 by the Congress to honor women's contributions to society.
North Carolina has a long history of women authors, many of whom can be found on the NC Literary Map. This Women’s History Month, allow me to introduce you to Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. Born in 1818, a slave to Virginian Colonel Armistead Burwell, she was “given” to Burwell’s eldest son, Robert Burwell. In 1835, Keckley moved to Hillsborough and served the Burwells in Burwell Household. Keckley was submitted to horrendous cruelty as a slave, but in 1855 she purchased her freedom and became a dressmaker and close confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. She wrote a book about her experiences as a slave and in the White House entitled: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. The book is a rare example of a memoir written by a woman slave, and is a testament to the trials that Keckley suffered during her lifetime. Later in life, she taught at Wilberforce University in Ohio, and died in 1907. You can find an example of her needlework at the Smithsonian American History museum, where the dress she made for Lincoln’s second inauguration ceremony is on display.
If you’re interested, you can find her book at your local bookstore or library! Celebrate this National Women’s History Month by learning about female authors from our own state.
