Ford's Theatre

Our Summer Teacher Institutes continue this week with Set in Stone! This program brings teachers from around the country together to examine how people have sculpted the narrative of U.S. history through monuments and memorials in D.C., and how our monumental landscape continues to change and evolve.

Happy birthday to legendary composer Alan Menken! 🎂 The mind behind some of the most beloved songs and scores of our time, his work was recently on our historic stage in “Little Shop of Horrors” and audiences will see it again this spring in “Sister Act,” inspired by the hit 1992 film!

Photo courtesy of Touchstone.

With the current heatwave in D.C., we’re thinking back on Lincoln celebrating his win of the 1860 election by visiting an “ice cream saloon.” 🍦 Learn more about this day in President Lincoln’s life at bit.ly/4cWA3dO!

Election Day 1860 As soon as the returns were in, the burdens of the presidency weighed upon Abraham Lincoln

“Brave spaces are ignited where conversations can be held and opinions can be shared, especially in the face of disagreements.”

As we prepare to welcome our next cohort of National Oratory Fellows next month, we are sharing a recent blog from Fellow Lauren Baxter who reflects on how communication and listening can create a compassionate culture for civil discourse.

Read: https://fords.org/civil-discourse-communicating-and-listening-to-create-a-compassionate-culture/

📣 Member Pre-Sale for our fall show, "Mister Lincoln" featuring acclaimed actor Scott Bakula begins next week! Get the best seats in the house when you buy early, then enjoy your exclusive benefits the rest of the year. Join today at bit.ly/FordsMember!

🎉 Ford’s Theatre has been recognized in Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards for 2024! Thanks to your positive reviews, our historic site is placed among the top 10% of listings around the world!

This week, teachers from around the country have travelled to Washington D.C. to participate in our Summer Teacher Institute, Civil War Washington! This program allows educators to collect a wealth of resources to take back to their classrooms in the fall by exploring historic sites and connecting with peers.

A special thanks to our partners President Lincoln's Cottage, Tudor Place Historic House & Garden, National Mall and Memorial Parks and Frederick Douglass National Historic Site!

America's theatre offers D.C.'s favorite walking tour. 🔍 Join Detective McDevitt as he leads you through the key locations of the Lincoln assassination investigation.

📣 Ford’s Theatre is hiring a full-time Executive Assistant to the Director and part-time Ticket Services Associates. If you’re interested in applying, or know someone perfect for the job, please visit bit.ly/WorkWithFords.

Our truly historic 2024-2025 season is just around the corner, and we’re saving you a seat! Join today and experience the difference as a Ford’s Theatre Member with access to exclusive benefits while investing in our mission. Learn more at bit.ly/FTSMembership.

📣 The Frances and Craig Lindner Center for Culture and Leadership opens spring 2025!

President Abraham Lincoln’s legacy as a great American has never been more important, or more relevant than today. That's why we are focused on finding new ways to bring Lincoln’s legacy to life for the 21st-century learner through intensive on-site educational programs, deeper theatre experiences and open civil discourse with the public. With this campus expansion, we are thrilled to unlock new possibilities and create a dynamic space that will embody Lincoln’s approach to learning and leadership through humility, empathy, creativity and courage.

Visit campaign.fords.org to learn more today!

“Four-score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” – Gettysburg Address

Happy from Ford’s Theatre!

Save the date— Tickets for our 2024-2025 season go on sale this summer! 🎫 Learn more about the productions coming to our historic stage at bit.ly/Fords24-25.

“Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? If I did not laugh I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.”

On , we reflect on this wisdom of President Lincoln, whose wit and sense of humor, became a trademark throughout his professional life despite tremendous stress, loss and tragedy.

While John Wilkes Booth may be the most notorious person involved with the Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy, he was not the only one. in 1865, eight people were convicted for being part of the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. Four of those conspirators were sentenced to death. Learn more at bit.ly/LincolnConspirators.

The Trial of the Conspirators — Ford's Theatre For seven weeks in May and June 1865, the nation’s attention was riveted on the third floor of Washington’s Old Arsenal Penitentiary (now Fort McNair), where John Wilkes Booth’s conspirators were on trial for their lives.

Enjoy an evening of history with Ford’s@5 this summer! Tickets are going quickly for this intimate, guided tour of our historic theatre and museum. Reserve your spot today at bit.ly/FordsAt5.

Discover downtown D.C.’s rich history— on foot! In our immersive walking tour, Investigation: Detective McDevitt, you can explore the clues and details surrounding the Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy first-hand. Learn more at bit.ly/HistoryOnFoot.

🤫 D.C.’s “best kept secret” (BroadwayWorld D.C.), “One Destiny,” our annual one-act play about President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, is only on our historic stage for a few more weeks! Get your tickets today before it’s too late at bit.ly/FordsDestiny.

Today is ! The story of Lincoln’s humble log-cabin beginnings and his rise to the presidency is an inspiration to many, and even inspired the popular Lincoln Logs. Today, families and children all over the country still lean on this toy for imaginative play. You can even buy them in our gift shop!

Photo of one of the Lincoln family log cabins courtesy of The Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-21723

June is Pride Month! 🌈 Next year we will be celebrating with a staged reading of Matthew Lopez’ groundbreaking epic, “The Inheritance,” but this year we are reflecting on our 2013 production of “The Laramie Project,” a play that presents a deeply complex portrait of a community’s response to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man living in Laramie, Wyoming.

Ford’s Theatre is proud to partner alongside Made By Us and over 500 other museums and cultural organizations to celebrate CIVIC SEASON! 🎉 To get involved in this new tradition, or to learn more, visit thecivicseason.com.

📅 Tickets to visit our Historic Site are now on sale through the end of 2024! Reserve your tickets today at bit.ly/FordsHSV. Please note that our visitation schedule varies from week to week; be sure to check our calendar when planning your visit.

📣 Two new positions have been listed! Ford’s Theatre is looking for an Associate Director of Marketing and Communications and a Manager of Arts Education to join our team. If you’re interested in applying, or know someone perfect for the job, please visit bit.ly/WorkWithFords.

Join us for our upcoming Cabinet Conversation, “Communicating Across the Divide,” on Monday, June 24! In this free, virtual program, get engaged with and (the flagship program from Made By Us) to commemorate Juneteenth and explore how to bridge cultural and political divides through civic discourse, art and advocacy.

“It is not merely for to-day, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children’s children this great and free government … I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of our children may look to come here as my father’s child has.”

When Lincoln spoke the above words to a regiment of soldiers from Ohio in 1864, he called upon the same spirit of hardworking fathers everywhere to do the same for their children. Happy from Ford’s Theatre!

Photo of Tad and Abraham Lincoln courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-7990.