At Stoney Wines, we believe in celebrating individuals who have made the world a better, safer & more innovative place. This week, we raise our glass to Elizabeth Keckley, a formerly enslaved woman who bought her own freedom, became Mary Todd Lincoln's personal dressmaker, and built an organization that transformed the lives of thousands of newly freed people.

Born into slavery in 1818 in Virginia, Elizabeth learned early that her needle could be her path to power. She became an exceptionally skilled seamstress, creating gowns for the wealthiest white families in the South. But every stitch she made carried a deeper purpose—she was sewing her way to freedom.

Through years of painstaking work and careful saving, Elizabeth did what seemed impossible: she purchased freedom for herself and her son. In 1855, at age 37, she walked out of bondage not as a fugitive, but as a self-purchased free woman who had paid $1,200—an enormous sum—for the right to own herself.

She moved to Washington, D.C., and established herself as one of the capital's most sought-after dressmakers. Her craftsmanship, discretion, and elegance attracted the city's elite. Then, in 1861, she was hired by Mary Todd Lincoln, the new First Lady.

Elizabeth became more than the White House dressmaker—she became Mary Todd Lincoln's confidante and friend during some of the most turbulent years in American history. She created the gowns Mrs. Lincoln wore to state dinners and receptions. She was present for private moments of grief after the death of the Lincolns' son Willie. She witnessed history from inside the rooms where it was made.

But Elizabeth understood that her proximity to power meant nothing if she didn't use it for her people.

In 1862, as formerly enslaved people flooded into Washington seeking refuge during the Civil War, Elizabeth founded the Contraband Relief Association. The organization provided food, clothing, shelter, and support to thousands of freed slaves who had nowhere else to turn. She used her connections, her business acumen, and her own money to build a network of care when the government had no plan and most white charities refused to help.

Elizabeth recruited other Black women to join the cause. She organized fundraisers, appealed to wealthy donors, and personally sewed clothing for those in need. She knew what it meant to start over with nothing, and she refused to let others face that alone.

As a Black woman entrepreneur in the 1860s, she navigated spaces that were designed to exclude her. She built a successful business in a society that barely recognized her humanity. She earned the trust of the most powerful woman in the country while never forgetting the people she came from.

In 1868, Elizabeth published her memoir "Behind the Scenes," offering a rare insider's account of life in the Lincoln White House and her own journey from slavery to independence. The book caused scandal—society wasn't ready for a Black woman to tell her own story on her own terms—but it remains an invaluable historical document that centers her voice and her experience.

Elizabeth Keckley proved that freedom isn't just something you're given—sometimes it's something you have to buy, build, and fight for every single day. She showed that success means nothing if you don't reach back and pull others forward.

So as we pour a glass of Stoney Wines this month, we honor Elizabeth Keckley for her skill, her strength, and her refusal to let anyone else define what she could become or who she could help.

🥂 Here's to Elizabeth—a seamstress, an entrepreneur, and a woman who stitched together freedom for herself and countless others. Cheers to her legacy and the lives she changed.

Know someone using their skills to create opportunity for others? Drop their name in the comments—we'd love to raise our glass to them too.