Ford's Theatre National Historic Site

All this summer heat makes you thinks about an afternoon picnic at the park. And what picnic would be complete without a historic quilt signed by Civil War icons!

This quilt was created and sold at the 1864 Sanitary Commission Fair, a fundraising event to raise money for U.S. troops during the Civil War. Fifty-six famous citizens contributed signed pieces of cloth for the quilt, making it a Who’s Who of the 1860s. Notable signers included poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross, and—you guessed it—President Abraham Lincoln.

While all the signers were men, northern women were the driving force behind the Sanitary Commission and its relief efforts. Today, the Sanitary Commission quilt is one of the many artifacts on display in our museum. You can read more about the quilt at https://fords.org/lincolns-assassination/sanitary-commission-quilt/.

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

What do all these quotes have in common? Abraham Lincoln never said them.

President Lincoln is one of the most famous figures in U.S. history, and his words continue to inspire today. But there are dozens of sayings attributed to Lincoln without any clear source. Similar misattributions commonly pop up for figures like Winston Churchill or Martin Luther King Jr.

The quote “You can’t fool all the people all the time” did not appear in print until 20 years after Lincoln’s death. By the time Bob Dylan intentionally misquoted it in “Talkin’ World War III Blues,” the quote made a perfect metaphor for postmodern confusion. It is a great reminder to check the sources before jumping to "I think Abraham Lincoln said that."



Image: Abraham Lincoln alongside lyrics from "Talkin' World War III Blues"

“Pa is dead. I can hardly believe that I shall never see him again…Well, I will try and be a good boy, and will hope to go someday to Pa and brother Willie, in Heaven.” – Tad Lincoln in April 1865

Thomas “Tad” Lincoln went to join his father in death on July 15, 1871. Only 18 years old, Tad was the third of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's four sons to die of illness. He was buried alongside his father in the Lincoln tomb in Springfield, Illinois.

Tad’s death devastated Mary Todd Lincoln. By the age of 52, she had lost her husband and three sons. Overcome by grief, she became increasingly paranoid about her son Robert dying, prompting him to commit her to a mental hospital in 1875. Mary successfully sued for her release and lived out her remaining years in Europe and Springfield, Illinois. She died of a stroke on July 15, 1882, exactly eleven years after Tad’s passing.

If you have not seen the weather forecast for this week, it is going to be hot in DC! The heat index is forecast to be over 100 °F for the next four days.

Drink plenty of water and eat salty snacks to stay hydrated. Also take breaks indoors during the midday heat—like at your favorite historic theatre! Ford’s Theatre and other local museums serve as sanctuaries of air conditioning when temperatures soar outdoors.

You can reserve a ticket to tour our site and beat the heat at https://fords.org/calendar/.



Image: Visitors in line outside Ford’s Theatre (NPS)

By July 10, 1865, John T. Ford judged that the time was right to reopen Ford’s Theatre. After all, the late President Abraham Lincoln had been dead almost three months. The conspirators who plotted to assassinate him had been tried and punished. Ford advertised a performance of the anti-slavery play “The Octoroon” for July 10 and sold over 200 advance tickets.

But to Ford’s dismay, his announcement ignited a wave of public outrage. Citizens bombarded Ford with letters threatening to burn the theatre to the ground if it reopened. On the night of the performance, Ford refunded the 200 tickets he had sold. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered the theater closed for good, and the government purchased the building the next year.

It would be another 103 years before Ford’s Theatre hosted plays again. In 1968, it reopened as an active theatre in partnership between the National Park Service and the Ford's Theatre Society.



Image 1: John T. Ford (NPS)
Image 2: Ford's Theatre in 1865 (NPS)

Happy Fourth of July!

President Lincoln often reflected on the meaning of Independence Day. On his way to become President in Washington in 1861, Lincoln stopped in Philadelphia to visit Independence Hall. Lincoln stood in the room where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. He reflected on what brought the colonial leaders together that day in 1776:

“It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men…But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle…I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.”

Four years later, Lincoln’s premonition of assassination came true. Lincoln’s body returned once more to Independence Hall, where half a million people mourned his death. You can learn more about Lincoln’s visit to Independence Hall at https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/independencehall-civilwar.htm.



Image: Abraham Lincoln addresses a crowd at Independence Hall (Library of Congress).

On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill protecting a special piece of California called the "Yo-Semite valley." Even during the Civil War, photographs of towering granite cliffs and enormous Sequoia trees had awed citizens on the east coast. The bill granted the land to the state of California on the condition that it “shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation; shall be inalienable for all time.”

This was one of the first times the U.S. government set aside pristine lands for public enjoyment. Eight years later, Congress went a step further by preserving the Yellowstone region as the first national park.

Today, of course, that 1864 land grant is preserved as Yosemite National Park. So, did Abraham Lincoln invent the National Parks? Not really. But like so many other parts of the United States, Lincoln’s wartime presidency left its mark in our parks system.

You can learn more about the early years of Yosemite National Park by viewing photos at https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/explorers-and-recorders.htm.



Image 1: Yosemite Valley in 1865 (Library of Congress)
Image 2: Abraham Lincoln (Library of Congress)

The life of Charlotte Cushman is a fascinating story of during Lincoln’s era. Cushman became one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors of her day, in part because she played both female and male parts onstage. She played Lady Macbeth, but also Romeo and Hamlet. She also defied boundaries in her offstage life by having long-term romantic relationships with other women. Cushman regularly performed with members of the famous Booth family, though she dismissed the young John Wilkes Booth as a rash and drunken “dare-devil.”

Whenever Cushman performed in Washington, DC, she often stayed at the home of her good friend Secretary of State William Seward. In 1861, Seward introduced Cushman to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln told Cushman that Macbeth was his favorite play, and that he hoped to see her famous performance as Lady Macbeth. Lincoln got his wish when Cushman returned for a benefit performance in October 1863. After Lincoln’s assassination, Cushman wrote an open letter to mourn Lincoln and denounce the “cruel and cowardly attack” of fellow actor John Wilkes Booth.



Images 1: Charlotte Cushman (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)
Image 2: Cushman as Lady Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Abraham Lincoln had been dead for two months when US troops arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. General Gordon Granger proclaimed the order of emancipation Lincoln had signed more than two years before. “All slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves.” It marked the end of chattel slavery in the former Confederate states.

The freed Black residents of Galveston broke into celebration that June 19th. They would celebrate its anniversary all over Texas in the following years. It was a celebration not only of freedom, but of the multitudes who joined in the struggle for emancipation: enslaved people, abolitionists, Underground Railroad volunteers, political leaders, and eventually the blue-clad US Army. Today is a chance to continue that celebration and remembrance. Happy Juneteenth!

You can learn more about the history of Juneteenth at https://www.nps.gov/articles/juneteenth-origins.htm.

Image: Black residents of Austin, Texas celebrate Juneteenth in 1900 (University of North Texas)

In most ways, William Petersen was an ordinary citizen of Washington, DC. A skilled tailor and German immigrant, Petersen built a fine brick house for his family on 10th street in Washington, DC.

Then one night, tragedy catapulted the Petersens and their home into the pages of history. A group of soldiers carried a dying Abraham Lincoln from Ford’s Theatre through the Petersen’s front door. When they removed Lincoln's body the next morning, William Petersen was left with a pile of bloody sheets and a home soon branded as “The house where Lincoln died.”

In time, death came for William Petersen as well, but his assassin was stealthier than even John Wilkes Booth. On June 19, 1871, a local paper reported that William Petersen was found “in a stupefied condition, with a bottle labeled ‘Laudanum’ at his side.” Policemen attempted to flush out the powerful op**te by pumping his stomach, but it was too late. The newspaper reported a story both tragic and familiar: “The cause of death was an overdose of laudanum taken through mistake.”

Image: The Petersen House around the year 1900 (Library of Congress)

On the morning of April 14, 1865, all James R. Ford wanted was a flag.

When he learned that President Abraham Lincoln would be attending Ford’s Theatre that night, Ford and his staff rushed to get the presidents box ready. Ford sent his workers into the streets of Washington, DC to look for United States flags. They borrowed two flags from the Treasury Guard and draped them from the state box, along with the familiar Stars and Stripes. A portrait of George Washington rounded out the patriotic decor.

Later that night, the flags witnessed John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln. By some accounts, Booth tangled his foot in one flag as he leapt down to the stage. The flags were later returned to the Treasury Guard and preserved. Today, one of the Treasury Guard flags sits in our museum collection at Ford’s Theatre.



Image: NPS Photo

The assassination was not the only tragedy at .

After Lincoln's death, the War Department ordered a stop to performances inside Ford's. They confiscated the theatre and dismantled the interior. Workers gutted the stage, the boxes, balconies, chairs, and other furnishings. Inside the hollow shell of the 1863 structure, they installed temporary floors, desks, cabinets and 1,000's of pounds of paperwork. By November, 1865, the War Department Pension and Records Bureau moved in, joined by the Surgeon General Records and the Army Medical Museum. As the building grew older, concerns of safety rose.

in 1893, at 9:30 AM, over 500 clerks took their seats and started their work. The walls buckled and men, desk, papers flew through the air. A forty-foot section of floor had collapsed through all three floors. Rescue efforts occurred immediately, pulling the living out of the rubble, and lining the dead on the street. Firemen sprayed water to keep the dust down. Police scrambled through the beams and bricks. Even the local drug-store opened up it's doors to help.

A survivor and veteran of the Civil War made this statement, "Never before had I seen such mangled bodies. Men were almost unrecognizable from their injuries." The final death toll fluctuates, however is estimated at 23 killed and 68 injured.



To learn more, visit our website article: https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/the-collapse-of-ford-s-theatre.htm

Did you know the Petersen House steps had to be replaced?

On June 3, 1928, a tour bus hit the Petersen House. The exact details of the accident remain unknown except for the damage done to the front steps. According to the annual report to the Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, the bus damaged the front steps and supporting columns of the landing. The government charged the bus company 58 dollars and 55 cents for the damages. They saved the cast iron railing but had to replace the steps. In 1959, the National Park Service had to rebuild the deteriorating landing and steps but again reinstalled the original railing. The original steps were red Seneca sandstone that originated from the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. To restore the steps, the National Park Service acquired red Seneca sandstone from the original quarry in Seneca, Maryland.

Historic Site Advisory: Portions of the Ford's Theatre National Historic Site are closed June 3-10 due to restoration work inside the theatre.

The Museum and Theatre will be closed to tours this week, June 3-10, as we complete restoration work and prepare for upcoming special events. The Petersen House will be open to tour on June 3-7, then will be closed on June 8-9.

The site will fully reopen for tours on Tuesday, June 11. Visit https://fords.org/calendar/ to see the adjusted schedule in full.

Lincoln’s vision for America was intertwined with the advancement of railroads. With the passage of the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, and President Lincoln’s subsequent signature, the country devoted money and resources to this massive transcontinental project. The ascendency of railroads in Lincoln’s time, and as part of his legacy, is laden with complicated meaning. Just as the arrival of railroads demonstrated technological and commercial progress for the nation, it simultaneously disrupted the environment. It permanently altered native cultures and lands.

Construction of the transcontinental railroad came at a tremendous human cost as well, particularly in the Sierra Nevada. The Central Pacific railroad recruited more than 10,000 Chinese laborers to carve tunnels through the mountains along the California-Nevada border. Boring through rock with sledgehammers and chisels, Chinese workers also used dangerous blasting powder to clear space below the mountains. In addition to completing lengthy tunnels, such as the 1,687-foot Summit Tunnel number 6, by 1869 Chinese railroad employees built 37 miles of snow sheds, to shield railroad cars from the heavy snows that battered the Sierra Nevada.

In addition to occupational hazards, harsh winters in the Sierra Nevadas claimed the lives of many Chinese. Workers faced deplorable conditions and poor financial compensation for their efforts. On June 25, 1867, roughly 5,000 Chinese laborers went on strike against the Central Pacific, in protest of the dangerous work environment, lengthy workdays, and low wages. Central Pacific Railroad Director Charles Crocker curtailed food and supply trains and threatened violence against Chinese employees. Crocker’s efforts broke the strike without any of the demands ever being met.

For Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we recognize the Chinese Americans who played an integral role in shaping our nation’s history and encourage people to discover more overlooked stories from our country's complicated past.

Image: Stereograph card of Chinese immigrants working near the Summit Tunnel, 1865 (loc.gov)

The Civil War had been over for three years when General John A. Logan declared the first “Decoration Day” to honor the US soldiers who gave their lives in the war. Today, we celebrate it as Memorial Day, a time to honor the fallen members of the United States Armed Forces.

For Abraham Lincoln, the terrible loss of life during the war weighed more on him than anything else. He saw the sacrifices of soldiers not only during visits to the front, but also at the Army cemetery near his summer quarters at the Soldiers Home. It is no surprise he gave his most famous speech to dedicate another cemetery at Gettysburg. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln reminded listeners that remembering fallen soldiers did not end at the graveside. “Let us strive on to finish the work we are in…to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”

Today we remember and honor the ones who made that great sacrifice.



Image: Abraham Lincoln's address dedicating Gettysburg National Cemetery (Library of Congress)

Believe it or not, Ford’s Theatre can’t stay looking good without a lot of tender loving care. The last show of the season is now complete, and now it’s time for a well-deserved spa day…or spa days.

Over the next few weeks, National Park Service staff will be painting walls, repairing seats, and cleaning carpets as the Ford’s Theatre Society breaks down the set from “Little Shop of Horrors.” It’s this work that helps the building function as both a popular historic site and a living, breathing theatre.



Image: An NPS employee touches up the paint of the theatre (NPS).

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our sixth, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from Joseph B. Stewart. 6 foot, 6 inch Joseph B. Stewart was a lawyer in Washington, DC. Some accounts also say he held the military rank of Major, although no documentation backs up this claim. Stewart was in the "front row of the orchestra, on the right hand side [house right]." These seats were nearly beneath President Lincoln's box seats.

During trial testimony, Joseph B. Stewart gave his account. "The sharp report of a pistol at about half-past 10 - evidently a charged pistol- startled me. I heard an exclamation, and simultaneously a man leaped from the President's box, lighting on the stage. He came down with his back towards the audience, but rising and fuming, his face came in full view. At the same instant I jumped on stage, and the man disappeared at the left-hand stage entrance. I ran across the stage quickly as possible, following the direction he took, calling out, "Stop that man!" three times. When about twenty or twenty-five feet from the door through which the man ran, the door slammed to and closed."

"On opening the door, after the temporary balk, I perceived a man mounting a horse... the horse was moving with a quick and agitated motion - as a horse will do when prematurely spurred in mounting... and for a moment I noticed the horse describe a kind of circle from right to left. I ran in the direction the horse was heading... I crossed the same direction, aiming at the rein... I could have reached the horses flank when two thirds of the way over the alley he brought the horse forward, and soon swept rapidly to the left, up to F street... I still ran after the horse some forty or fifty yards and commanded the person to stop. All this occupied only the space of a few seconds."

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination.

Our partners, Ford's Theatre Society created a new digital learning experience:

Explore Ford's Theatre, one tap at a time! History is at your fingertips with the *new* Ford's Theatre Student Guide! This web based mobile guide features interactive learning, enhanced exhibits, and teaExplore Ford's Theatre, one tap at a time! History is at your fingertips with the *new* Ford's Theatre Student Guide! This web based mobile guide features interactive learning, enhanced exhibits, and tea resources.

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our fifth, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from James P. Ferguson. James owned the Greenback Restaurant that bordered Ford's Theatre on the north side. At 1:00PM on April 14, theatre owner Harry Ford alerted James that Lincoln and his party (with General Grant supposed to be in attendance) were to visit Ford's Theatre that night. James immediately secured a seat "directly opposite the President's Box in the front row of the Dress Circle." It is from this seat that James witnessed, in fine detail, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This is also the only eyewitness that we can pinpoint an exact seat - Dress Circle E60.

During trial testimony, James P. Ferguson provided the following account. "Somewhere near 10 o'clock, during the second scene of the third act of "Our American Cousin," I saw Booth pass along near the President's box, and then stop and lean against the wall. After standing there a moment, I saw him step down one step, put his hands on the door and his knee against it, and push the door open - the first door that goes into the box. I saw no more of him until he made a rush for the front of the box and jumped over. He put his left hand on the railing, and with his right he seemed to strike back with the knife. I could see the knife gleam, and the next moment he was over the box..."

"At the moment the President was shot, he was leaning his hand on the railing... I saw the flash of the pistol right back in the box. As the person jumped over and lit on the stage, I saw it was Booth. As he struck the stage, he rose and exclaimed, "Sic Semper Tyrannis"... I also heard someone halloo out of the box "Revenge for the South!"

Later on, James P. Ferguson would return to Ford's Theatre to examine what police believed was a "bullet hole" in the box door. Ferguson would be a critical witness to explain that Booth didn't shoot through the door, but rather inside the box itself. Ferguson explained, "It looked to me as if it [the hole] had been bored by a gimlet, and then rimmed around the edge with a knife... not from a bullet."

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination.

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our fourth, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from Albert Daggett. Daggett sat in a front seat of the Parquette, rear area of the first level of the Theatre. He claimed to have been "not more than 20 feet from the box" but in reality, the distance between the Parquette and the President's box would be greater. He writes his account in a letter to a friend on April 15, 1865.

"I had been out and was just entering the inner door when I heard the report of the pistol and turned just in time to see the hound of treason leap from the box upon the stage and with glittering dagger flourishing above his head disappear behind the scenes. As he leaped from the box, he exclaimed "Sic Semper Tyrannis" and just as he disappeared from the stage he cried out "I have done it-the South is avenged!"

Despite his details of the events being rather short, his description of public emotion is invaluable. "Mr. Lincoln has relaxed his hold from the "Ship of State" to which he clung with such heroic and noble daring... The good ship is now at the mercy of the winds. God grant that she may survive the storm, and anchor in safety in some good harbor, in the harbor of peace and prosperity. The spirits of Abraham Lincoln, supported by the people of the country will mash this hydra of treason and rebellion North and South so deep into the soil... the crimson blood of Lincoln and of a hundred thousand fallen patriots calls loudly for revenge and it calls not in vain.”

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination.



Image: An 1860s seating chart from Ford's Theatre, with Albert Daggett's approximate location outlined in red (NPS)

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our third, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from Julia Adeline Shepard. Julia sat in the Dress Circle of the Theatre (2nd Floor) in a seat that was only able to see the "young and lovely daughter of Senator Harris... as the flags hide the rest." Despite not being able to see Abraham Lincoln, she knew he was present, "we know that 'Father Abraham' is there; like a father watching what interests his children, for their pleasure rather than his own."

In a letter to her father, she recalled the night as "sociable... Everyone was so jubilant for days... that they laugh and shout at every clowning witticism."

That jubilation quickly turned to chaos, as "The report of a pistol is heard... Is it all in the play? A man leaps from the President's box. The truth flashes upon me. Brandishing a dagger he shrieks out "The South is avenged." No one stirs. Did you hear what he said, Julia? I believe he has killed the President."

As the theatre cleared, Julia continued to document that night. "On the stairs, we stop aghast and with shuddering lips... it is our President's blood all down the stairs and out upon the pavement. It seemed sacrilege to step near... Cavalry come dashing up the street and stand with drawn swords. Too late! Too late!... Weary with the weight of woe moments drag along and for hours delicate women stand clinging to the arms of their protectors, and strong men throw their arms around each other's necks and cry like children."

The final lines of her letter appeals to the shock and anguish many felt in that chaos. "I feel like a frightened child. I wish I could go home and have a good cry. I can't bear it alone... Sleeping or waking, that terrible scene is before me..."

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination.



Image: An 1860s seating chart from Ford's Theatre, with Julia Adeline Shepard's approximate location outlined in red (NPS)

in 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant testified at the trial against the Lincoln assassination conspirators. Before being called to the stand, he paced back and forth in the hallway smoking. In the drama of the courtroom, a small bit of humor emerged. A 16-year-old soldier-turned clerk, Alfred Gibson accompanied the general. Young Alfred Gibson was a stickler for the rules. Noticing Grant smoking, the young soldier had this to say:

"It being an arsenal, there were signs posted prohibiting smoking. And as the general walked up and down the corridor with his pipe in his mouth, I considered it my duty to point out these signs to him.

‘I beg your pardon,’ I had the audacity to say to the commander of all the Union armies, ‘did you read those?"

Grant, realizing the disciplinary value of obeying orders, promptly put out his pipe and never smoked again during the trial. From what Gibson has to say, he was "the only man who ever made General Grant stop smoking."

Our partners, Ford's Theatre Society will host a panel discussion on May 21, 2024. Former Mayor Sharon Pratt, and MSNBC Co-Host, The Weekend and IPPH Board Co-Chair Michael Steele will help to reflect on President Lincoln's most famous public addresses and speeches.

If you're interested in attending, see the post below, and reserve your free tickets at: https://fords.org/event/lincoln-a-providential-president/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1-sUVz9uwpsAi4r89cBXzopdA809DPn7kaWl8cdLksOYS7oJozijJG80k_aem_AW4GPR-2RWDjDA6nwO_Bhef78-RxAXI377b5sUvuc-3ApGDBhntQvdO2moDEaBj7f76T6HhIsRuFQGOHG4NDwaQY

On Tuesday, May 21, join Ford’s Theatre, the Institute of Policy Politics and History (IPPH - Official)’s Founding Director, Former Mayor Sharon Pratt, and MSNBC Co-Host, The Weekend and IPPH Board Co-Chair Michael Steele for a panel discussion accompanied by a dramatic reflection of some of President Lincoln’s most famous words.

Part of the Defining Fathers Legacy Series, this program reveals the depth of the lives, motivations and contradictions on those, including President Lincoln, who played a pivotal role in transforming the nation’s capital into a meaningful metropolis.

Tickets are free and can be reserved through registration on our website. Learn more at bit.ly/3UsV6Ne.