I read Elizabeth Keckley's book "Behind the Scenes or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House", several years ago, and really enjoyed it. It amazed me that a woman who came from slavery could earn her freedom, and open a dressmaking business, and not only make beautiful dresses for the first lady, but for the Washington elite as well. She used her skills at dressmaking to her advantage, and it saved her from slavery.[h=1][/h]