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Inkwell given to Elizabeth Keckly

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@ National Museum of American History

Lincoln, Abraham Keckley, Elizabeth White House, The

Description

Elizabeth Keckly asked Mary Lincoln for keepsakes from the president and received several items, including this inkwell. In 1874 she presented it to Rev. George Van Deurs, her minister at the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington.Elizabeth Keckly (often spelled Keckley) was born into slavery in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. An accomplished dressmaker, she earned enough money to buy her freedom and her son’s. In 1861 Keckly was living in Washington, D.C., when she was introduced to Mary Lincoln.Keckly became Mary’s principal dressmaker, a trusted confidant, and an intimate friend. It was a close, complicated, unequal relationship—the women were drawn together by genuine affection and divided by class and race.Gift of Capt. George Van Deurs, USN, grandson of Rev. George Van Deurs, 1949Currently not on view
Format:
Wood (Overall Material)Painted (Overall Production Method/Technique)Brown, Black (Overall Color)
Rights:
Capt. George van Deurs, USN
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Record Contributed By

National Museum of American History

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution