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Storyline

The Burwell School and the Burwell household

Hillsborough’s girls’ school, 1837–1857, and the enslaved people who worked in the household, Elizabeth Keckly among them.

In briefAnna Burwell opened a school for girls in Hillsborough in 1837 that ran until the family moved to Charlotte in 1857. In the same household Elizabeth Hobbs, later Elizabeth Keckly, was enslaved from 1835, beaten at Anna Burwell’s urging and subjected to years of sexual coercion before being sent back to Virginia in 1842; she bought her freedom in 1855.

Read the 46 eventsAll storylines

67 works about The Burwell School and the Burwell household are indexed here. 8 held at OCPL →

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The Burwell School, Churton Street, Hillsborough
The Burwell School, Churton Street, Hillsborough

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineElizabeth Keckly in HillsboroughKeckly’s enslaved years in the Burwell household and her memoir’s testimony about them, including the abuse by schoolmaster William Bingham

Other events in this storyline, in date order. See these 46 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Dr. James Webb deeds land for Polly Burke's log schoolhouse On November 6, 1817, Dr. James Webb deeded to his neighbor Mary W. Burke a strip of his lot on East Queen Street, where a log schoolhouse was built for her to teach the Webb children. Known as Miss Polly Burke's School, it took neighborhood children from about 1818 to 1834 and is cited as a forerunner of the Burwell School. People: Mary “Polly” Burke, James Webb Place: Hillsborough, East Queen Street · Also named: Mary W. Burke · Also mentions: Burwell SchoolSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
  2. Tavern keeper William Adams builds the house that became the Burwell School William Adams, a Hillsborough tavern keeper and businessman, builds a two-story house with two rooms on each floor facing West Union Street in 1821. Those rooms survive as the south rooms of the Burwell School. Place: Burwell School, 319 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: William AdamsNC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 319 North Churton Street, Burwell School
  3. William H. Adams buys the lots that became the Burwell School site Hillsborough sold lots in the old North Town Commons pasture, advertising the town as a healthy place to live and to school children. In November 1821 William H. Adams took the deed for lots 152 and 153, an acre each, for $216. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William H. AdamsElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
  4. Sarah Grove buys lots 152 and 153 for $800 Adams sold the two lots to Sarah Grove for $800, a rise that suggests he had built the first four-room house and its outbuildings. About eighteen months later she sold them to the attorney Nathaniel J. Palmer for $1,200. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Sarah Grove, Nathaniel J. Palmer, William H. AdamsElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
  5. Elizabeth Hobbs is brought to Hillsborough in the household of Robert and Anna Burwell When the Reverend Robert Burwell became minister of the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough, he moved his household from Virginia, bringing the enslaved Elizabeth Hobbs, later Keckly. By her own account she was nearly eighteen. People: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly, Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Elizabeth Keckly, Robert Burwell, Anna Burwell, Elizabeth HobbsEncyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities): Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly (1818–1907), by Jennifer Fleischner
  6. Robert Burwell becomes pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church Burwell began a thirteen-year pastorate, and he and his wife opened a school for young women whose income let him serve the church on a small salary. He returned for a second term in the 1850s. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Place: Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, Hillsborough · Also named: Robert BurwellSearch the index · Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 135
  7. Schoolmaster William J. Bingham repeatedly beats Elizabeth Hobbs at Anna Burwell's urging Anna Burwell had William J. Bingham, the Hillsborough schoolmaster, flog Elizabeth Hobbs over a period of weeks in an attempt to break her spirit. Her memoir says Robert Burwell also beat her, and that she was eighteen at the time. People: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly, Robert Armistead Burwell, William James Bingham, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William J. Bingham, Anna Burwell, Robert Burwell, Elizabeth HobbsDocumenting the American South: Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (Keckley, 1868)
  8. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church buys the house as its manse The church's trustees bought lots 152 and 153 in January 1836, renovated the house, and gave it to their minister, Robert Armistead Burwell, and his family, who had arrived from Virginia late the year before. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Place: HillsboroughElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
  9. Alexander McKenzie Kirkland subjects Elizabeth Hobbs to about four years of sexual coercion Alexander McKenzie Kirkland, a white man from a prominent Hillsborough merchant-planter family, repeatedly sexually assaulted Elizabeth Hobbs over about four years. In her memoir she did not name him and wrote that a white man pursued her for four years. People: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Alexander McKenzie Kirkland, Elizabeth HobbsEncyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities): Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly (1818–1907), by Jennifer Fleischner
  10. Burwell School for young women operates Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell operated their Hillsborough school for girls from 1837 to 1857. People: Margaret Anna Burwell, Robert Armistead Burwell, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Place: HillsboroughNCpedia
  11. Anna Burwell opens a school for girls in Hillsborough Anna Burwell advertised that she would open a female school in Hillsborough on July 17, 1837, teaching the usual English branches, with music available. She and her husband, the Rev. Robert Burwell, ran it in their home until 1857. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Burwell School, Hillsborough · Also named: Robert Burwell, Anna BurwellInternet Archive: Charles L. Coon, North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840: A Documentary History (1915)
  12. Elizabeth Hobbs writes to her mother from Hillsborough Elizabeth Hobbs wrote to her mother Agnes Hobbs in Virginia asking for news of home and saying she did not expect to see her family again. She wrote that Anna Burwell planned to go to Petersburg without her and that she had been told she would belong to Elizabeth Burwell once that daughter married. She also wrote that she had been a bridesmaid at Ann Nash's wedding a week before Christmas 1837. People: Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Elizabeth Hobbs, Agnes Hobbs, Anna Burwell, Elizabeth BurwellProject Gutenberg: Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes (1868), p. 16
Show all 46 dated events
  1. Frances Armistead Burwell is born to Robert and Anna Burwell of Hillsborough Frances Armistead Burwell, called Fanny, was the fourth of the twelve children of Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell. People: Frances Armistead Burwell, Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County NCGenWeb: Burwell School
  2. A Female School House is built for the Burwells' school As the school grew, subscribers in town paid for a 36-by-20-foot schoolhouse north of the Burwell home, built by the carpenter George A. Faucette. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: George A. FaucetteElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
  3. Elizabeth Hobbs gives birth to her son George in Hillsborough Elizabeth Hobbs gave birth to her only child, George, whose father was Alexander Kirkland. George later took the surname Kirkland. People: George Kirkland, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Alexander McKenzie Kirkland, Elizabeth Hobbs, Alexander KirklandEncyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities): Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly (1818–1907), by Jennifer Fleischner
  4. Elizabeth Hobbs and her son are sent from Hillsborough back to Virginia The Burwells sent Elizabeth Hobbs and her son George back to Dinwiddie County, Virginia, where she rejoined her mother in the household of Ann Burwell Garland and Hugh Garland. The Garlands later took the family to St. Louis, where she bought her freedom and George's in 1855. People: George Kirkland, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Ann Burwell Garland, Hugh Garland, Elizabeth HobbsEncyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities): Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly (1818–1907), by Jennifer Fleischner
  5. Frances Devereux deeds Primus to Dr. Edmund Strudwick Five months after her husband died, Frances Devereux of Raleigh deeded Primus to Dr. Edmund Strudwick of Hillsborough. Primus later drove and gardened at the Burwell School and, after emancipation, worked at the Nash and Kollock School as Primus Smith. People: Edmund Strudwick, Frances (Pollock) Devereux Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Primus Smith · Also mentions: Burwell School, Nash and Kollock SchoolBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 19
  6. Richard Mayo, a free cabinetmaker of color, buys three town lots Richard Mayo paid $200 for three lots on Occoneechee Street between West Tryon and West Queen streets, and in 1849 gave them to Levi McCollum to settle a debt. His brother William later waited tables at the Burwell School. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Richard Mayo, Levi McCollum · Also mentions: Burwell SchoolElizabeth Keckly Center research database: Richard Mayo
  7. Mitchell asks the Burwells to sell his wife Mary Ann with him Mitchell, an enslaved man who had run from his owner, came to Robert Burwell asking that he and his wife Mary Ann, enslaved in the Burwell household, be sold together. He worked at the house for a week; then Burwell told him to go back to his master, and he left on February 17. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Mary Ann, Robert Burwell, MitchellElizabeth Keckly Center research database: Mitchell
  8. Smallpox at the Turner house sends students out of town Anna Burwell wrote that William Turner had caught smallpox from the clothes of a brother back from medical lectures in Philadelphia. Twenty or thirty students of the Institute left town, and both Burwell boarders went home, though no second case followed. People: Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William Turner, Anna BurwellBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 46
  9. Robert Burwell buys the house and has John Berry enlarge it Burwell resigned his pulpit and bought the two lots from the church for $800 and back pay. The builder John Berry added a central hall and two rooms and turned the house to face Churton Street. A deed of trust of July 16, 1850 shows Burwell still owing Berry $2,500 and the church trustees $800, secured on the lots and on enslaved members of the household. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, John Berry Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Churton StreetElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline · Also: Burwell School Historic Site Task Force report
  10. Sarah Kollock becomes the Burwell School's teacher of French and drawing Sarah Kollock, one of the Burwell School's first pupils, had helped teach the younger children and in 1848 became its full-time teacher of French and drawing. By September 1851 Molly Burwell had taken her place and she was in Oxford. People: Sarah Kollock Place: Burwell School, Hillsborough · Also named: Molly BurwellSearch the index · Elizabeth Keckly Center research database: Sarah Jane Kollock
  11. The old Burwell schoolroom is said to be moved to West Orange Street during John Berry's work on the Burwell School The west wing of the bungalow at 114 West Orange Street is reputed to be the old Burwell schoolroom, moved there in 1850 while John Berry was renovating the Burwell School. The house around it dates from 1922. People: John Berry Place: 114 West Orange Street, Hillsborough · Also mentions: Burwell SchoolNC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 114 W. Orange Street, house incorporating the old Burwell schoolroom
  12. Robert Burwell pledges Mary Ann and her children against his building debts A deed of trust set out Burwell's debts of $2,500 to the builder John Berry and $800 to the Presbyterian trustees, and offered as security the enslaved seamstress Mary Ann, her four children and any children born to her, and a girl named Ann. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, John Berry, Thomas Webb Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Mary AnnElizabeth Keckly Center research database: Mary Ann
  13. Mary Burwell marries Frederick Nash Strudwick Mary Susan Burwell, one of her mother's first pupils and later a teacher at the school, married the neighbor Frederick Nash Strudwick in Hillsborough, with the Rev. F. K. Nash officiating, joining two families who lived a town lot apart. People: Frederick N. Strudwick Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Mary Susan BurwellHillsborough Recorder, June 28, 1854, p. 3
  14. Elizabeth Keckly purchases freedom for herself and her son Elizabeth Keckly purchased freedom for herself and her son in St. Louis, after earlier enslavement in Hillsborough. People: George Kirkland, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Place: St. Louis, Missouri; earlier Hillsborough connection · Also named: Elizabeth Keckly, James KecklyNCpedia
  15. Aunt Fariby saves Jane from burning Jane, a young enslaved servant at the Burwell School, caught fire. Anna Burwell wrote that she would have burned to death but for Aunt Fariby, who saved her life. People: Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Anna Burwell, Jane · Also mentions: Burwell SchoolElizabeth Keckly Center research database: Jane
  16. The first through trains run on the finished North Carolina Railroad, with mail trains at Hillsborough The North Carolina Railroad was finished on January 29, 1856, when the last rail was laid about four and a half miles west of Greensboro. Two days later the regular mail and passenger trains made their first through run from Charlotte to Goldsboro, with a westbound train due at Hillsborough each morning and an eastbound one before dawn, replacing the coach connection that had carried the Burwells' letters to their daughter Fanny in New York. Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadHillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1856, p. 2 · Also: Elizabeth Keckly Center research database: Bettie Payne
  17. The Burwells resolve to sell their cook Hannah Hannah, who had come from Virginia with the family and cooked for the school, had been drinking heavily through 1855. Anna Burwell wrote to her daughter Fanny that she had made up her mind: Hannah would be sent to Richmond to be sold. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Anna Burwell, HannahBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 14
  18. Fanny Burwell dies aboard the steamer Jamestown as her parents bring her home to Hillsborough Fanny Burwell had gone to New York to complete her music education, but fell ill with erysipelas in early March. Her mother went north to nurse her, and she died at dawn on the steamer Jamestown between New York and Norfolk with both parents beside her, in her eighteenth year; her body was brought home to Hillsborough for burial. People: Frances Armistead Burwell, Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 7, 1856, p. 3 (obituary)
  19. Anne Call Cameron, piano teacher to Burwell School students, dies A widow known as Nancy, she gave piano lessons at the Burwell School to help pay for the care of her daughter Anna McKenzie Kirkland, whose illness followed her husband's death in 1843. She died in Hillsborough in June 1856. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Anne Call Cameron, Anna McKenzie Kirkland · Also mentions: Burwell SchoolElizabeth Keckly Center research database: Anne Call Cameron
  20. A Black child and then a student die of illness at the Burwell School Writing to her mother, the student Lizzie Glass mentioned a small Black boy who had died at the school the previous day, at a time when Nannie Burwell and three of the Burwell children lay sick. Within a few weeks Lizzie Glass herself died at the school. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Lizzie Glass, Anna Robertson BurwellBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 45
  21. Burwell School closes as the Burwells move to Charlotte The Burwells closed their Hillsborough school in 1857, the same year they took charge of a girls' school in Charlotte. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, Margaret Anna Burwell Place: Burwell School, HillsboroughDigitalNC: Burwell School Historic Site Materials Now Available on DigitalNC
  22. The Collins family buys the former Burwell School and calls it the Beehive Members of the Collins family of Somerset Place, who had left Union-held eastern North Carolina, paid Robert Burwell $3,500 for the house and four lots. By 1863 about forty family members and enslaved servants lived there, and the family named it the Beehive. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Elizabeth Alethea Collins, Robert BurwellElizabeth Keckly Center research database: The Collins family and the Beehive years
  23. The Collins women sell their shares of the Beehive to Dr. Thomas D. Warren After the war the Collins relatives who had lived at the Beehive left Hillsborough, and the women sold their shares of the house to Dr. Thomas D. Warren, who had married Elizabeth Alethea Collins. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas D. Warren, Elizabeth Alethea CollinsElizabeth Keckly Center research database: The Collins family and the Beehive years
  24. The sheriff auctions the former Burwell School to David C. Parks Dr. Thomas D. Warren was deep in local debt, and the Orange County sheriff sold the house at auction to David C. Parks for $600. Parks and his brother Charles traded the property between them for the next quarter century. People: David C. Parks, Charles M. Parks Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Charles Parks, Thomas D. WarrenElizabeth Keckly Center research database: The Collins family and the Beehive years
  25. David S. Payne marries Eliza Mayo The marriage joined two Black Hillsborough families tied to the Burwell School: Eliza was a granddaughter of the school's laundress Eliza Chavious, and David was the son of Bettie Payne and a grandson of Rev. William Payne, a founder of Dickerson Chapel. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: David Sheppard Payne, Eliza Mayo Payne, William Payne · Also mentions: Burwell School, Dickerson ChapelElizabeth Keckly Center research database: David Sheppard Payne
  26. Jule Gilmer Korner remodels the former Burwell School In the 1890s the old Burwell School house was remodeled by Jule Gilmer Korner of Kernersville, who gave it a bracketed cornice, a sawnwork porch, a new hall stair and new mantels, including a marble one in the parlor. Several of the older mantels were lost in the work, which was done for an owner thought to be Mrs. Charles M. Parks. People: Charles M. Parks Place: Burwell School, North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Jule Gilmer KornerNC State Historic Preservation Office: Burwell School, National Register nomination (OR0004), p. 3
  27. Dr. John S. Spurgeon buys the former Burwell School The dentist paid Charles Parks $2,500 for lots 152 and 153. The Spurgeons, whose household included Carrie Waitt Spurgeon, daughter of a Burwell student, lived there for about seventy years and added electricity and plumbing. People: Charles M. Parks, John Sanford Spurgeon Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Carrie Waitt Spurgeon, Charles ParksElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
  28. The Richardson Foundation makes a challenge grant toward restoring the Burwell School The Richardson Foundation of Greensboro presented sixteen challenge grants totaling $60,000, each from $1,000 to $10,000 and administered by the State Department of Archives and History, to North Carolina restoration projects. The Burwell School in Hillsborough was among them. Place: Burwell School, HillsboroughInternet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 380
  29. The Historic Hillsborough Commission buys the Burwell School The commission bought the house from the Spurgeon children and began restoring it to look as it had after the 1848 enlargement. Place: HillsboroughNCpedia: Burwell School · Also: Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 42
  30. Friends of Historic Hillsborough raise $14,000 toward the Burwell School The Friends of Historic Hillsborough raised more than $14,000, enough to qualify the Historic Hillsborough Commission for a $7,000 Richardson Foundation challenge grant toward restoring the Burwell School. Place: Burwell School, HillsboroughInternet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 43 (1966), p. 257
  31. Laurence E. Hensley is named supervising contractor for the Burwell School restoration The Historic Hillsborough Commission named Laurence E. Hensley of Durham supervising contractor for restoring the Burwell School. He was to work with A. L. Honeycutt Jr., restoration specialist of the State Department of Archives and History, and with the commission's restoration committee under James Webb of Greensboro, while an acquisitions committee headed by Mrs. George B. Daniel Jr. of Chapel Hill drew up a plan for furnishings. Place: Burwell School, Hillsborough · Also named: Laurence E. Hensley, A. L. Honeycutt Jr., James Webb, Mrs. George B. Daniel Jr.Internet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 43 (1966), p. 377
  32. The first phase of the Burwell School restoration is finished At the Historic Hillsborough Commission's semiannual meeting on May 21, 1966, restoration committee chairman James Webb reviewed the completed first phase of work on the Burwell School and presented plans for a second phase to begin at once. Three high school seniors who had won the commission's 1966 history essay contest were guests. People: Mary Claire Engstrom Place: Burwell School, Hillsborough · Also named: James WebbInternet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 43 (1966), p. 463
  33. Burwell School is listed in the National Register On September 15, 1970 the National Park Service listed Burwell School in Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places. Place: Burwell School, HillsboroughSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Burwell School, National Register nomination (OR0004)
  34. The Burwell School opens to visitors The restored house has been open to visitors every year since 1977. Place: HillsboroughElizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 3 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

All places and the county map →

Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Filter these works by material, period, or place. Counts refer to works, not individual copies. A work may appear under more than one period or place.

Material

Letters & correspondence 22Photographs & portraits 20Histories 15Biography 5Diaries 2other types 9

Period

19th century 10Civil War (1861–1865) 1Reconstruction (1865–1877) 120th century 1

Place

Hillsborough 65Orange County 46North Carolina (statewide) 32Chapel Hill 1Eno River 1

Anna Burwell and the business of being a Presbyterian minister's wife in North Carolina, 1835-1857

Hoffert, Sylvia D. · 2019 · Historical Research Office, Office of Archives and History

Sylvia D. Hoffert's article on Margaret Anna Burwell, 1810 to 1871, and the work of being a Presbyterian minister's wife in North Carolina from 1835 to 1857, the years of the female school she and her husband kept in Hillsborough. Pages 245 to 275 with illustrations, facsimiles and portraits, issued by the Office of Archives and History in Raleigh in 2019.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Burwell, M. A. (Margaret Anna), 1810-1871.

UNC

Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color Who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857

Historic Hillsborough Commission (Hillsborough, N.C.) · 2019

The Historic Hillsborough Commission's account of slavery in antebellum Hillsborough and of the enslaved and free people of color who worked at the Burwell School, the female school the Burwells kept in town, between 1837 and 1857. African American history in Hillsborough and the school's own history are its two threads. Published in 2019.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Mr. & Mrs. Burwell's Female School (Hillsborough, N.C.) -- History.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 HISTORIC

The Elizabeth Keckley Reader

McKoy, Sheila Smith · 2016

A reader on Elizabeth Keckley edited by Sheila Smith McKoy, gathering criticism and interpretation of Behind the Scenes, Keckley's 1868 memoir of enslavement and of her years as Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. Keckley's enslavement included years in Hillsborough, which is the book's Orange County link. Published in 2016, 274 pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NCCU record: Behind the scenes (Keckley, Elizabeth).

✓ Held at OCPL · 973.709 ELIZABET Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL NCCU

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

Chiaverini, Jennifer · 2013 · Dutton

Jennifer Chiaverini's historical novel about Elizabeth Keckley, the formerly enslaved dressmaker who sewed for Mary Todd Lincoln and became her friend in the White House years. Published by Dutton in 2013, 356 pages, in a large print edition. Topics include first ladies, women dressmakers and female friendship. Keckley's years in Hillsborough give the book its Orange County connection.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Keckley, Elizabeth, ca. 1818-1907 -- Fiction.

✓ Held at OCPL · LP F CHIAVERI NC Cardinal Durham Library of Congress

An Unlikely Friendship: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley

Rinaldi, Ann · 2007 · Harcourt

Ann Rinaldi's young adult novel about the friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, the dressmaker who was born into slavery and later worked in the Lincoln White House. It is fiction on both women, slavery and nineteenth-century United States history. Keckley's years as an enslaved young woman in Hillsborough are the Orange County link. Published by Harcourt in 2007, 241 pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Keckley, Elizabeth, approximately 1818-1907 -- Fiction.

NC Cardinal NCCU Durham Library of Congress

Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave

Fleischner, Jennifer · 2003 · Broadway Books

Jennifer Fleischner's double biography of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, the dressmaker who had been enslaved, including years in Hillsborough, before buying her freedom and becoming the First Lady's confidante. Published by Broadway Books in New York in 2003, 372 pages with illustrations and a map. Topics include enslaved women in Hillsborough and the United States, dressmakers and women's friendships in the nineteenth century.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Keckley, Elizabeth, approximately 1818-1907.

✓ Held at OCPL · 973.7 FLEISCHN NC Cardinal Library of Congress UNC
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Mary Lincoln's Dressmaker: Elizabeth Keckley's Remarkable Rise from Slave to White House Confidante

Rutberg, Becky · 1995 · Walker

Becky Rutberg's biography of Elizabeth Keckley, born into slavery in Virginia, who bought her freedom, became a dressmaker in Washington and served Mary Todd Lincoln as dressmaker and confidante. Written for young readers and published by Walker in 1995, 166 pages with illustrations. Keckley spent years in Hillsborough as an enslaved young woman, which is the Orange County link.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Keckley, Elizabeth, approximately 1818-1907.

NC Cardinal Durham Library of Congress

The Book of Burwell Students

Engstrom, Mary Claire · 1979 · Historic Hillsborough Commission

Mary Claire Engstrom's biographical register of the young women who attended the Burwell School in Hillsborough, subtitled lives of educated women in the antebellum South. The school was kept by Margaret Anna Burwell and her husband, and the book bears on women's education in nineteenth-century North Carolina. Published by the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1979, 256 pages with illustrations and portraits.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Burwell School.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 371.82 ENG NC Cardinal UNC Durham

Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House

Keckley, Elizabeth · 1868

Elizabeth Keckley's memoir of 1868, thirty years in slavery and four years in the White House as dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley spent part of her enslaved youth in Hillsborough, which ties the book to Orange County. This edition is the Oxford University Press reprint, with a portrait, 371 pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Keckley, Elizabeth.

✓ Held at OCPL · BIO KECKLEY KEC NCCU Library of Congress UNC

Circular and catalogue of Mr. & Mrs. Burwell's Female School, Hillsboro', N.C. : term 1848-1851

1851 · Printed at the N.C. Inst. for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind

Circular and list of pupils of Mr. and Mrs. Burwell's Female School in Hillsborough for the terms 1848 to 1851, printed in Raleigh in 1851 at the North Carolina Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. Eleven pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mr. & Mrs. Burwell's Female School (Hillsborough, N.C.) -- Registers.

UNC

Lizzy, the Elizabeth Keckley Story

2023

A 2023 telling of the life of Elizabeth Keckley, the dressmaker who bought her freedom and later sewed for Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House. Keckley is a local subject because she was enslaved for several years in Hillsborough as a young woman.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Keckley, Elizabeth.

✓ Held at OCPL · F C GEORGI

Stitch by Stitch

Schofield-Morrison, Connie · 2021

Connie Schofield-Morrison's 2021 account of Elizabeth Keckley, who was born into slavery, learned to sew, purchased her freedom and became dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln. The Orange County tie is her years of enslavement in Hillsborough as a young woman.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Keckley, Elizabeth.

✓ Held at OCPL · JBIO KECKLEY SCH

Search all 67 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this storyline. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled. Books marked Wider context cover the broader subject rather than this storyline itself.

  • Foundational · NC 371.82 ENG The Book of Burwell Students: Lives of Educated Women in the Antebellum South Engstrom, Mary Claire · 1979

    Mary Claire Engstrom's biographical register of the young women who attended the Burwell School in Hillsborough, subtitled lives of educated women in the antebellum South. The school was kept by Margaret Anna Burwell and her husband, and the book bears on women's education in nineteenth-century North Carolina. Published by the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1979, 256 pages with illustrations and portraits.

  • Foundational · NC 975.656 HISTORIC Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color Who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 Historic Hillsborough Commission (Hillsborough, N.C.) · 2019

    The Historic Hillsborough Commission's account of slavery in antebellum Hillsborough and of the enslaved and free people of color who worked at the Burwell School, the female school the Burwells kept in town, between 1837 and 1857. African American history in Hillsborough and the school's own history are its two threads. Published in 2019.

  • Start here · NC 371.097 PENDER A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983

    Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

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Research sources

Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.

Background 5

National Register files

Records of the time

Collections and databases

Local help 5

Background reading at OCPL

Books from OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection that provide broader context. They may not discuss The Burwell School and the Burwell household directly.

  • Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection Less Time for Meddling: A History of Salem Academy and College, 1772-1866 Griffin, Frances · 1979

    Salem Academy, the Moravian school for girls at Salem, from its start in 1772 to 1866, in a history by Frances Griffin that takes in the Moravian community and the town of Salem, now part of Winston-Salem. John F. Blair published the 311 pages, with illustrations, a bibliography and an index, in 1979.

    Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: Salem Academy and College (Winston-Salem, N.C.); Moravian Church -- Education -- North Carolina -- History; Women -- Education -- North Carolina -- History OCPL call number: NC 373.756 GRI
  • Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection A History of the Public Schools of North Carolina Noble, M. C. S. · 1930

    M. C. S. Noble, dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina, traces the state's public schools from colonial apprenticeship of orphans and chartered academies through the Literary Fund of 1825, the common school law of 1839, Calvin H. Wiley's superintendency, Reconstruction, and the graded schools and the white and Black normal schools of the late 1800s. Published at Chapel Hill in 1930; 463 pages with portraits and an index.

    Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: Education -- North Carolina -- History; Public schools -- North Carolina OCPL call number: NC 352 NOB

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Related themes

Schools & Education →Slavery, Emancipation & Reconstruction →Women's Lives & History →Everyday Life & Traditions →Black Life & Civil Rights →

Picture: The Burwell School, Churton Street, Hillsborough. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph by Warren LeMay; via Wikimedia Commons

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