U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Mary Lincoln poses in an elaborate gown

Mary Todd Lincoln -- "Mrs. Abraham Lincoln" in the society-speak of the day -- poses for a photograph in a multi-layered white gown, with a garland of flowers down one side and a delicate fan in her right hand. The photograph is undated, but Mrs. Lincoln was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until her husband's death in 1865.

See our biography of Mary Lincoln