Elizabeth Keckly Gravesite

Born into slavery near Petersburg, Virginia, this remarkable woman used her talents as a seamstress and designer to buy her freedom and that of her son. In July of 1860, Elizabeth moved to Washington, D.C. and became the seamstress for many of the city’s social elites.

On Inauguration Day 1861, Mrs. Keckly was introduced to Mary Todd Lincoln at the Willard Hotel and was asked to come to the White House the next day for an interview. That interview would lead to her becoming the modiste to the First Lady. A strong friendship developed between the two women. Her position as confidante to the Lincoln family is profiled in her 1868 book, Behind the Scenes, which has given historians an intimate look into the Lincoln White House.

Elizabeth Keckly died in 1907, and was buried in Washington’s Columbian Harmony Cemetery. The cemetery was bought by developers in the 1950s, and her remains were moved to an unmarked grave in National Harmony Memorial Park in Largo, Maryland.

In 2009, Mr. Richard Smyth of Pennsylvania informed the Surratt House Museum that the current management at National Harmony had located her records and had spelled out the location in section, lot, and grave number. The Surratt Society, the Lincoln Forum, and Black Women United for Action of Fairfax County, Virginia sponsored a $5000 project, in conjunction with the New Harmony Memorial Park, to raise the funds to place a marker on Elizabeth’s grave. Contributions for the grave marker were received from various organizations and individuals.

On May 26, 2010, the 103rd anniversary of Mrs. Keckly’s death, this remarkable lady was honored by marking her grave site for future generations.

If interested in learning more about Elizabeth Keckly, you may wish to take the walking tour offered by a first-person interpreter at Ford’s Theatre. For more information on this walking tour please visit: History on Foot: Elizabeth Keckly.

Directions to Mrs. Keckly’s Grave:

From I95, the Capital Beltway, take Exit 17B towards Bladensburg.
Merge onto Landover Road/MD 202W.
Turn left onto Brightseat Road.
Make slight right onto Sheriff Road.
7101 Sheriff Road/National Harmony Memorial Park is on the left.
Turn left after entering the cemetery and follow signs for the office.
Look for the marker reading “Costen Section” on the left. Mrs. Keckly’s gravesite is Lot 115, Grave 7, not far from the fence.