Doing the story justice: adapting Elizabeth Keckley’s <i>Behind the Scenes</i>

Abstract Elizabeth Keckley’s 1868 memoir Behind the Scenes or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House and Jennifer Fleischner’s 2003 biography of Keckley and Mary Lincoln have inspired numerous bio-adaptations across a variety of media. The most commercially successful of these are Paula Vogel’s play A Civil War Christmas; Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln; and Jennifer Chiaverini’s bionovel Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker. At the same time, a growing number of adaptations are beginning to focus on Keckley’s life in enslavement as well as her later charity work and teaching. In doing so, they vacillate between depicting her as a faithful servant, on one hand, and an exceptional and heroic star on the other. Within these frameworks, some have begun to interrogate the narrative of success to examine her as a woman who experienced unspeakable loss. Others have examined aspects of her life that have not yet been fully documented and created memorials that give her a continuing and forward-looking presence. While each adaptation focuses on specific moments and periods, their collective interest in Keckley’s story has also paved the way for a comprehensive biography that does justice to the entirety of her life.