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Ford's Theatre at 511 10th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. is an active theater in Washington DC, used for various performances. The theater became well known when it became the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, he was carried across the street to the Petersen House where he died the next morning. The theater and house are preserved together as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.
Theater
The site was originally home to a church building, constructed in 1833 as the First Baptist Church of Washington. In 1861, after the congregation vacated the building, John T. Ford took it over and renovated it as a theater. He first called it "Ford's Athenaeum." It was gutted by fire in 1862, and was rebuilt, opening the following year as "Ford's New Theatre."
Just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln sat in the "State Box" watching Our American Cousin. A well-known actor, John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, stepped into the box and shot Lincoln in the head. He then jumped onto the stage, breaking his leg, and cried out "Sic semper tyrannis" and "The South is avenged!" just before escaping through the alley.
The theater was eventually taken over by the U.S. military and served as the home of the records of the War Department records on first floor, the National Library of Medicine on second floor, and the Army Medical Museum, during the period 1866-1887. In 1887 the medical uses were eliminated and it became a War Department clerk's office. The building collapsed in 1893 and killed 22 of those clerks, injuring another 68. This led some to believe that the former church turned theater and storeroom was cursed, and its many tragedies confirmed this. The building was repaired and used as a government warehouse until 1931. It languished for another 30 years until Congress approved funds for its restoration, which was completed in December 1967. Since 1970 Ford's Theatre has been both an active theater and a historic site remembering the assassination of the 16th U.S. President. The museum beneath the theater contains portions of the Olroyd Collection of Lincolniana.
Petersen House
Attendants, including Dr. Charles Leale, carried the President onto 10th street. The doctor decided to take him to Petersen's boarding house across the street. A captain cleared the way to the brick federal style rowhouse. A boarder, Henry Safford, noticed what was going on and stood on the front steps crying, "Bring him in here, bring him in here!" Then he was taken into the bedroom in the rear of the parlors and placed on a bed that was not long enough for him. Mrs. Lincoln was escorted across the street by Clara Harris, who had been in the box during the shooting, and whose fiancée, Henry Rathbone, had been stabbed by Booth during the assassination. Rathbone, bleeding severely from the knife wound in his arm, collapsed due to loss of blood after arriving at the Petersen House.
During the night and early morning, military guards patrolled outside to prevent onlookers from coming inside the house. A parade of government officials and physicians was allowed to come inside and pay respects to the unconscious President. Physicians continually removed blood clots which formed over the wound where the bullet had entered Lincoln's head to relieve pressure on the brain. However, the external and internal hemorrhaging continued throughout the night. Lincoln died in the house on April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m., at age 56.
Administrative history
- Theater authorized for federal purchase on April 7, 1866
- Designated the Lincoln Museum on February 12, 1932
- Designated Ford's Theatre (Lincoln Museum) on April 14, 1965
- Petersen House authorized as the House Where Lincoln Died on June 11, 1896
- Both structures were transferred from the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933.
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966
- They were combined as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site on June 23, 1970, which is currently administered as part of National Mall and Memorial Parks
Reference
- The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
See also
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
- Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
- Lincoln Home National Historic Site
- Lincoln's Tomb
- Lincoln Memorial
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
- United States Presidential Memorial
External links
- Official NPS website: Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
- Ford's Theatre Box Office
- Abraham Lincoln's Assassination
- The Life and Plot of John Wilkes Booth
1861 establishments | Abraham Lincoln | Buildings and structures in Washington, D.C. | National Historic Sites of the United States | Registered Historic Places in the District of Columbia | Theatres in the United States | Theatres in Washington, D.C. | Washington, D.C. culture
"Ford's Theatre"