Thursday, May 21, 2020

Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Lincolns Dressmaker and Friend

Elizabeth Keckley was a former slave who became the dressmaker and friend of Mary Todd Lincoln and a frequent visitor to the White House during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Her memoir, which was ghost-written (and spelled her surname as Keckley though she seemed to have written it as Keckly) and published in 1868, provided an eyewitness account to life with the Lincolns. The book appeared under controversial circumstances, and was apparently suppressed at the direction of Lincolns son, Robert Todd Lincoln. But despite the controversy surrounding the book, Keckleys accounts of Abraham Lincolns personal work habits, observations on the everyday circumstances of the Lincoln family, and a moving account of the death of young Willie Lincoln, have been considered reliable. Fast Facts: Elizabeth Keckley Born: About 1818, Virginia.Died: May 1907, Washington, D.C.Known for: Former slave who opened a dressmaking business in Washington, D.C., before the Civil War and became a trusted friend of Mary Todd Lincoln.Publication: Wrote a memoir of life in the White House during the Lincoln administration which provided unique insight into the Lincoln family. Her friendship with Mary Todd Lincoln, though unlikely, was genuine. Keckleys role as a frequent companion of the first lady was depicted in the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln, in which Keckley was portrayed by actress Gloria Rueben. Early Life of Elizabeth Keckley Elizabeth Keckley was born in Virginia in 1818 and spent the first years of her life living on the grounds of Hampden-Sydney College. Her owner, Col. Armistead Burwell, worked for the college. Lizzie was assigned work, which would have been typical for slave children. According to her memoir, she was beaten and whipped when she failed at tasks. She learned to sew growing up, as her mother, also a slave, was a seamstress. But young Lizzie resented not being able to receive an education. When Lizzie was a child, she believed a slave named George Hobbs, who belonged to the owner of a another Virginia farm, was her father. Hobbs was allowed to visit Lizzie and her mother on holidays, but during Lizzies childhood the owner of Hobbs moved to Tennessee, taking his slaves with him. Lizzie had memories of saying goodbye to her father. She never saw George Hobbs again. Lizzie later learned that her father was actually Col. Burwell, the man who had owned her mother. Slave owners fathering children with female slaves was not uncommon in the South, and at the age of 20 Lizzie herself had a child with a plantation owner who lived nearby. She raised the child, whom she named George. When she was in her mid-twenties, a member of the family who owned her moved to St. Louis to begin a law practice, taking Lizzie and her son along. In St. Louis she resolved to eventually buy her freedom, and with the help of white sponsors, she was eventually able to obtain legal papers declaring herself and her son free. She had been married to another slave, and thus acquired the last name Keckley, but the marriage did not last. With some letters of introduction, she traveled to Baltimore, seeking to start a business making dresses. She found little opportunity in Baltimore, and moved to Washington, D.C., where she was able to set herself up in business. Washington Career Keckleys dressmaking business began to flourish in Washington. The wives of politicians and military officers often needed fancy gowns to attend events, and a talented seamstress, as Keckley was, could obtain a number of clients. According to Keckleys memoir, she was contracted by the wife of Senator Jefferson Davis to sew dresses and work in the Davis household in Washington. She thus met Davis a year before he would become president of the Confederate States of America. Keckley also recalled sewing a dress for the wife of Robert E. Lee at the time when he was still an officer in the U.S. Army. Following the election of 1860, which brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House, the slave states began to secede and Washington society changed. Some of Keckleys customers traveled southward, but new clients arrived in town. Keckley's Role In the Lincoln White House In the spring of 1860 Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary, and their sons moved to Washington to take up residence in the White House. Mary Lincoln, who was already gaining a reputation for acquiring fine dresses, was looking for a new dressmaker in Washington. The wife of an Army officer recommended Keckley to Mary Lincoln. And after a meeting at the White House on the morning after Lincolns inauguration in 1861, Keckley was hired by Mary Lincoln to create dresses and dress the first lady for important functions. There is no question that Keckleys placement in the Lincoln White House made her a witness to how the Lincoln family lived. And while Keckleys memoir was obviously ghost-written, and is no doubt embellished, her observations have been considered credible. One of the most moving passages in Keckleys memoir is the account of the illness of young Willie Lincoln in early 1862. The boy, who was 11, became sick, perhaps from polluted water in the White House. He died in the executive mansion on February 20, 1862. Keckley recounted the sorrowful state of the Lincolns when Willie died and described how she helped prepare his body for the funeral. She vividly described how Mary Lincoln had descended into a period of deep mourning. It was Keckley who told the story of how Abraham Lincoln had pointed out the window to an insane asylum, and said to his wife, Try to control your grief or it will drive you mad, and we may have to send you there. Historians have noted that the incident could not have happened as described, as there was no asylum within view of the White House. But her account of Mary Lincolns emotional problems still seem generally credible. Keckley's Memoir Caused Controversy Elizabeth Keckley became more than an employee of Mary Lincoln, and the women seemed to develop a close friendship which spanned the entire time the Lincoln family lived in the White House. On the night Lincoln was assassinated, Mary Lincoln sent for Keckley, though she did not receive the message until the following morning. Arriving at the White House on the day of Lincolns death, Keckley found Mary Lincoln nearly irrational with grief. According to Keckleys memoir, she remained with Mary Lincoln during the weeks when Mary Lincoln would not leave the White House as Abraham Lincolns body was returned to Illinois during a two-week funeral which traveled by train. The women stayed in touch after Mary Lincoln moved to Illinois, and in 1867 Keckley became involved in a scheme in which Mary Lincoln tried to sell some valuable dresses and furs in New York City. The plan was to have Keckley act as an intermediary so buyers would not know the items belonged to Mary Lincoln, but the plan fell through. Mary Lincoln returned to Illinois, and Keckley, left in New York City, found work which coincidentally put her in touch with a family connected to a publishing business. According to a newspaper interview she gave when she was nearly 90 years old, Keckley was essentially duped into writing her memoir with the help of a ghost writer. When her book was published in 1868, it attracted attention as it presented facts about the Lincoln family which no one could have known. At the time it was considered very scandalous, and Mary Lincoln resolved to have nothing more to do with Elizabeth Keckley. The book became hard to obtain, and it was widely rumored that Lincolns oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, had been buying up all available copies to prevent it from achieving wide circulation. Despite the peculiar circumstances behind the book, it has survived as a fascinating document of life in the Lincoln White House. And it established that one of the closest confidantes of Mary Lincoln was indeed a dressmaker who had once been a slave. Sources: Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years In the White House. New York City, G.W. Carleton Company, 1868. Russell, Thaddeus. Keckley, Elizabeth.  Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, edited by Colin A. Palmer, 2nd ed., vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 1229-1230.  Gale Virtual Reference Library. Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs.  Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 28, Gale, 2008, pp. 196-199.  Gale Virtual Reference Library. Brennan, Carol. Keckley, Elizabeth 1818–1907.  Contemporary Black Biography, edited by Margaret Mazurkiewicz, vol. 90, Gale, 2011, pp. 101-104.  Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Oedipus Rex An Amazing Play Written By Sophocles

Oedipus Rex Oedipus Rex is an amazing play written by Sophocles. Oedipus Rex is about a king who can visually see but in reality he is blind, which then leads to him becoming physically blind in the end of the play, because he no longer wants to see the hurt and pain he’s caused himself. The play says, â€Å"No more shall you look on the misery about me, the horrors of my own doing!† (Sophocles Exodos lines 46-47). Also the play tells us that he kills his father and is married to his mother. In this essay the role of blindness is very ironic to me because Oedipus picked on a blind character named Teiresias when in the end he becomes blind. The play says â€Å"You sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man† (Sophocles Scene One line 154). Oedipus is a king and in the beginning some people would think he has everything going for himself but in reality Oedipus is just a lost man. Oedipus is lost because he really doesn’t know who he is, he doesn’t know his parents he’s just lost in the world. The play says, â€Å"My parents again! Wait; who are my parents† (Sophocles Scene One line 221). Also in Scene One Teiresias says, â€Å"How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there’s no help in truth! I know this well, but did not act on it; else I should not have come† (Sophocles Scene One lines 101-103). With that being said he knew all the painful things that were going to happen to Oedipus but he kept quiet. I mean who could blame him if I knew anything aboutShow MoreRelatedSophocles The Golden Age1864 Words   |  8 PagesSophocles was born about 496 BC in Colonus Hippius which is now a part of Athens, Greece, he was to become one of the great playwrights of the golden age. Sophocles was the son of Laius and Jocasta, both wealthy in the city that Sophocles grew up in. Luckily, He was the son of a wealthy merchant, he would enjoy all the perks of a successful Greek empire. Sophocles was provided wi th the best education which would help him in many ways in the future of his life. He studied the arts. By sixteen, heRead MoreThe Influence Of Renaissance Theatres1891 Words   |  8 PagesPalladio got to work designing the theatre in late 1579 and early 1580. The purpose of the theatre was for the Vicenza Academia Olimpia to stage theatrical performances. The first play that was going to be performed at the newly designed theatre was, Oedipus Rex, which was written by the brilliant and well-known Sophocles. The Academia Olimpia was founded by non-other than Palladio himself in 1555. The group that he founded was full of people who were artists, musicians, and scholars. The theatreRead Moretheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesagainst the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratrici de of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon. The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of Athens. Although the play itself was written in 441 B.C., the legendRead MoreThe Renaissance and It’s Affect on William Shakespeare’s Works2369 Words   |  10 PagesIt’s very easy to see William Shakespeare as an amazing literary genius who had a perspective on life that, to simply put it, no one else has ever had. However Shakespeare was the product of the English Renaissance. The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement spanning from the later 15th century until the early 17th century, it is associated with the Italian Renaissance which started in the 14th century. Like most of northern Europe, England did not get the full effect of the RenaissanceRead MoreRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4514443 Words   |  18 Pagesa person with corrupt values exploiting others for their own selfish needs. They put their desires above everyone else’s and usually exploits the purity or innocence of another, thinking they matter more. In The Most Dangerous Game, a short story written by Richard Connell, General Zaroff is of Russian nobility and fled to an island when the communists took over Russia. He would mislead ships so people could wash up on his island. When a hunter named Rainsford, washes up on his island, he gives theRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesprior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. Many of the designations by manufacturers and seller to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations

Technology and environment Free Essays

The advent of technology and industrialization has brought about tremendous changes in the lives of the people around the world. Innovations in science enabled humans to comprehend the various phenomena that occur in their natural environment. It cannot be denied that technology in all its forms has made our lives comfortable and our work easier, efficient and timely. We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and environment or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, the drastic changes in our environment that are now far-reaching and well-studied are very alarming. Take for example global warming, which is one of the major problem that people around the world need to mitigate the soonest possible time, is actually an offshoot of technological advances. With the growing concern for the gradually depletion of natural resources, as well as the fast-paced destruction of the earth, people are now debating over the negative impacts of technology to both human lives and the natural environment. This debate has resulted into the so called technological optimists and technological pessimists divide. According to Chasek, Downie, Brow (2006), technological optimism refers to people’s view that technology can harness our human capacities and also advance our development to a never-ending point. Technological optimism maintain that technology contributes a lot in the swift development of all aspects of human lives – social, economic, political, biological and even environmental aspects. Optimists assumed that technology will never cease to discover new innovations to cater to the needs of the times. Elliott (2004) on the other hand, presented the view of technological pessimists with reference to the negative impacts of science and technology to our natural environment. The advent of climate change has strengthened the point of debate in favor to the pessimists, claiming that climate change has been the greatest threat of technology to human lives. Technological pessimists assume that there has always been a limit to growth and development. Technological pessimists argue that technology has been the major cause of global problems such as pollution and depletion of natural resource because of technology’s ability to harness people’s capacity to go beyond what they need. Both optimists and pessimists have something to say on the issue of technological advancement. Both have made justifications to prove that they are right. Clapp and Dauvergne (2005) provided several point on which to base the assumptions of the two technological perspectives. On the part of the optimists, environmental problems can be solved by inventing the latest technology that could solve the present global environmental crisis. Take for example the enhancement of nuclear power as source of energy. It can provide people with the energy they need for generations and it can help mitigate the increasing pollution in the atmosphere. Another example that could justify the views of the optimists according to Clapp and Dauvergne (2005) is the advent of the World Wide Web or the internet. It made people’s lives easier and sharing of information has become too efficient and easy to access. The pessimists on the other hand justify their views with reference to the negative impacts that technology has caused the environment. The degradation of our natural resources has been greatly blamed on the massive industrialization brought about by technology. Another classic example is the transfer of agricultural technology to other countries, but proved to be futile because those technologies were not applicable to the situation of other countries. Clapp and Dauvergne (2005) added that technological pessimists maintained that development has a limit so as to preserve what has been left on the face of the planet earth. References Chasek, P.S., Downie, D. and Brow, J. W. (2006). Global environmental politics. Boulder:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Westview Press. Clapp, J. and Dauvergne, P.   (2005). Paths to a green world: The political economy of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   global environment. Cambridge: MIT Press. Elliott, L. (2004). The global politics of the environment. New York: NYU Press. How to cite Technology and environment, Essay examples