Our last day – we fly out this afternoon. We couldn’t waste the morning, though, so we trekked off to explore and discover Ford’s Theater and the Peterson House and Museum across the street. Since Lincoln has always been a hero to me, it was a super morning, though sad and speculative. I wonder how our country would be different today if Booth hadn’t been successful?
I didn’t realize that Ford’s Theatre is still used for performances. I like that.
The box where Mary and Abraham Lincoln sat.
There wasn’t a Presidential Seal in 1865, so the president’s attendance at the theater was marked with a portrait of George Washington hanging at the front of the box seats. The Lincolns actually arrived late for the play and it had already started. When they did enter their box, the play stopped and the band played “Hail to the Chief” before the play resumed.
The museum in the basement of the theater was very interesting, though I felt as though there wasn’t enough time in there before we were escorted to the theater itself. The gun used to assasinate Lincoln was in there.
The gun John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. It looks so small and benign.
The most striking part of the museum to me turned out to be in the hallway between the museum and the lobby of the theater. With loud audio of a ticking clock as accompaniment, the hall was lined with an hourly timeline of what Lincoln did on April 14 on one side and what Booth did on the other. I took pictures of each entry to reread and think about the choices made on the last day of Lincoln’s life. It makes me hope that the choices I made on the last day of my own life are wise, unselfish, and memorable.
