Historic Hillsborough Commission

The Burwell School is a unique institution in Hillsborough, North Carolina, that promotes local, state, and national history through educational programs, tours, exhibits, and special events. As part of our mission, we interpret and contextualize the complex history of this antebellum historic site that was simultaneously an innovative school for white girls as well as a site of enslavement.

One of the most prominent enslaved people connected to the Burwell School was Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly, a Black woman enslaved by the Burwell family. Madam Keckly went on to purchase her freedom and became America’s first fashion designer. Of her many prominent clients, none were more famous than First Lady Mary Lincoln, with whom she shared a close, yet complicated relationship.