Ford's Theatre National Historic Site

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America's transfer from civil war to peace was made more difficult on April 14, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed, just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. A well-known actor, John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, stepped into the president's box. Booth's decision to pull the trigger altered the nation's power to reconstruct after the war. Booth escaped into the night as Abraham Lincoln was carried to the Petersen boarding house across the street. It was there that President Lincoln died early the next morning, and became the first American president to be assassinated. Explore Ford's Theatre National Historic Site and discover some of the motivations behind this tragic act and its impact on a nation trying to heal. While this is an open forum, it is also a family friendly one, so please keep your comments and wall posts clean. In addition to keeping it family friendly, we ask that you follow our posting guidelines. We do not allow graphic, obscene, explicit or racist comments or submissions, nor do we allow comments that are abusive, hateful or intended to defame anyone or any organization. We do not allow solicitations or advertisements. This includes promotion or endorsement of any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency. Similarly, we do not allow attempts to defame or defraud any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency. We do not allow comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity. You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. Finally, the appearance of external links on this site does not constitute an official endorsement on behalf of the U.S. National Park Service or the U.S. Department of the Interior.

09/02/2026

On this day 164 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln reinstated General George B. McClellan as full commander following General John Pope’s failure at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. Previously, McClellan had served as commander of the Army of the Potomac, but after his unsuccessful attempt to capture Richmond during the Seven Days Battles in June 1862, his army was transferred to Pope's newly formed Army of Virginia.

At the Second Battle of Bull Run, Confederate General Robert E. Lee overwhelmed Pope, who failed to demonstrate effective leadership and ultimately retreated to Washington, D.C. While McClellan observed the battle, he chose not to assist Pope, even though he was nearby. As a result of this defeat, Union morale plummeted.

President Lincoln believed that McClellan was the best available general to restore the spirits of the Union forces. McClellan’s strengths lay in his ability to prepare and organize an army for combat, and Lincoln recognized these talents as essential for raising morale after the Union’s setback.

Image used courtesy of the Library of Congress

08/30/2026

Did you know that the man who documented the eyewitness accounts of President Lincoln's assassination was a Civil War veteran?

In fact, today marks the 164th Anniversary of the day Corporal James R. Tanner lost his legs.

Tanner enlisted when the Civil War began, joining the 87th New York Volunteer Infantry. He served during the Peninsula Campaign, seeing action in multiple battles. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, Tanner and his unit were ordered to fix bayonets and lay on a small slope as a Confederate artillery barrage hit his position. A shell exploded above Tanner, the shrapnel raining down and mangling his legs. Tanner later recalled shouting to his fellow soldiers “Don’t let a fellow lie here until another one comes and takes his head off!” His comrades managed to get him to a field hospital, where both of his legs were amputated below the knee. Tanner was 18 years old at the time.

After recovering, and learning to walk with prosthetics, Tanner continued supporting the war effort. He learned stenography, becoming a clerk for the War Department. On the night of April 14th, 1865, James R. Tanner was staying across the street from Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. After President Abraham Lincoln was shot and taken over to the Petersen House, Tanner offered his services to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. He spent the night collecting eyewitness testimony from theatre-goers and was in the room when President Lincoln passed away.

James R. Tanner went on to serve as a veteran’s advocate. He worked with the Red Cross, the Grand Army of the Republic and served as the Commissioner of Pensions. He passed away in 1927. The James Tanner Amphitheatre in Arlington Cemetery is named after him.

Image is an 1892 photograph from "A Famous Battery and Its Campaigns, 1861-’64".

08/27/2026

On this day in 1863, Ford’s Theatre opened it’s doors for the first time!

John T. Ford bought the building that became Ford’s Theatre in 1862. Originally built as a Baptist Church, the interior was designed for large crowds and for speakers to be easily heard. The interior was remodeled and the building opened as Ford’s Atheneum that same year. However, in December of that year, a faulty gas line caused the Atheneum to burn down, forcing John T. Ford to have the interior rebuilt.

The reconstruction was finished on August 27th, 1863. Ford’s Theatre reopened with a three-week run of “The Naiad Queen”, one of the first musicals. The spectacular sets and showmanship made the Theatre wildly popular with wartime Washington. President Abraham Lincoln ended up attending about a dozen shows at Ford’s Theatre. However, Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre led to the War Department confiscating the building in 1865. The interior was once again remodeled, this time into an office building. Ford’s Theatre would not have shows in it again until it was restored by the National Park Service and the Ford’s Theatre Society in 1968.

Image of Ford's Theatre from the Library of Congress
Advertisement for "The Naiad Queen" from the Library of Congress

08/23/2026

By August of 1864, it was uncertain if President Abraham Lincoln would be reelected. The Civil War had seemingly become a stalemate. The Army of the Potomac was conducting the slow siege of Petersburg while General William T. Sherman’s army slowly advanced on Atlanta. Without clear victories, and with no way of knowing who the Democrat’s Presidential Candidate would be, Lincoln prepared for the worst.

On August 23rd, 1864, Lincoln had his cabinet members sign the document in the photo. The President kept the contents hidden from his cabinet while they signed. Later called “the Blind Memorandum” the document read as follows.

“This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards.”
Fortunately, the Cabinet never needed to follow through on what they unknowingly pledged. Sherman’s capture of Atlanta, coupled with General Philip Sheridan’s victories in the Shenandoah Valley, swung public opinion heavily in Lincoln’s favor. Lincoln’s reelection guaranteed the Union’s victory, though “the Blind Memorandum” gives us a valuable look at Lincoln’s resolve. That even if he were not reelected, he would have still done everything he could to save the nation.

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

08/19/2026

In celebration of World Photography Day, here are two photographs of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was possibly the most photographed American of the 19th Century (the other candidate being Frederick Douglass).

The first photo was taken on February 27th, 1860, by Matthew Brady. The photo was taken shortly after Lincoln’s Cooper Union speech during Lincoln’s campaign to become the Republican presidential candidate. While the speech itself was credited as winning Lincoln the nomination, Lincoln credited the photograph for winning him the election. It allowed voters to put a face to his name, earning him national recognition. Lincoln went so far as to say, “Brady and the Cooper Institute made me President.”

The second photo was taken on February 5th, 1865, almost five years later. The photo was taken by Alexander Gardner in his Washington studio. It shows President Lincoln, getting ready for his second inauguration. The photos were never intended for the public, having been taken so Lincoln would not have to pose for a presidential portrait. He simply didn’t have the time for it. The strain of leading the United States through it’s greatest crisis is visible on his face. However, by this point, Lincoln knew the Civil War would end soon. In fact, the war ended just two months after this photo was taken.

President Lincoln, however, did not live to see the fruits of his labors. He was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre that same month.

Images courtesy of the Library of Congress.

08/15/2026

Eight months before his assassination at Ford’s Theatre, President Abraham Lincoln narrowly avoided being shot on the streets of Washington.

One August evening in 1864, President Lincoln was riding to his family’s summer cottage at the Old Soldier’s Home. He rode alone on a horse that had been nicknamed ‘Old Abe’. As he approached the base of the hill, he heard a shot ring out. Lincoln, when later recounting the story, jokingly claimed “I tell you there is no time on record equal to that made by the two Old Abes on that occasion.”

Private John Nicols, serving as a guard at Lincoln’s Cottage, heard the gunshot and saw the President riding up to the house ‘bareheaded’. When Nicols found the President’s hat, it had a bullet hole through it. While Nicols suspected the shooter had been trying to assassinate the President, Lincoln dismissed the idea, insisting it was an accident. President Lincoln instructed Nicols not to tell anyone about the incident. Supposedly, while telling his friend Ward Hill Lamon about the incident, Lincoln said “I can't bring myself to believe that any one has shot or will deliberately shoot at me with the purpose of killing me.”

Images of Lincoln’s Cottage courtesy of the Library of Congress.

05/18/2026

Happy National Museum Day!

The first Lincoln-focused museum in Washington, DC opened in the Petersen House in 1893. The museum displayed the private collection of Osborn Oldroyd, an avid collector of Lincoln artifacts and memorabilia.

Oldroyd began collecting Lincoln artifacts in 1860, during Lincoln’s first Presidential Campaign. Oldroyd initially displayed his collection in Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois. In 1893, Oldroyd traveled to Washington, D.C. with his collection, moving his family into the Petersen House alongside it. He expanded the collection throughout his life until the government purchased it in 1926.

Osborn Oldroyd passed away in 1930. Two years later, the Petersen House became part of the National Park Service. The collection was moved and integrated into the museum of Ford’s Theatre. Although the items displayed have changed over time, Oldroyd’s collection remains foundational to the exhibits at Ford’s Theatre.

Photos of the Petersen House and Oldroyd's collection from the Library of Congress

05/12/2026

On this day in 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant testified at the trial against the Lincoln assassination conspirators. In the drama of the courtroom, a small bit of humor emerged.

While waiting to testify, Grant paced back and forth in the hallway and smoked his pipe. A 16-year-old clerk named Alfred Gibson accompanied the general. Young Alfred Gibson was also a stickler for the rules. He recalled his encounter with Grant years later:

"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 promptly put out his pipe and never smoked again during the trial. Gibson proudly claimed he was "the only man who ever made General Grant stop smoking."

Photo of Alfred Gibson from the Library of Congress
Photo of Ulysses S. Grant from the Library of Congress

05/10/2026

At 10:00 am on May 10, 1865, the trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators met for the first time on the third floor of the Old Washington Arsenal.

A hush fell as guards led the accused conspirators into the courtroom. In addition to wrist and ankle chains, the prisoners wore hoods tied over their heads. Once the prisoners took their seats, guards removed their hoods to identify them. A court official read off their names: David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell, Michael O’Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary Surratt, and Samuel Mudd.

A military commission of nine Army officers watched from a table on one wall. Since this was military trial, the commissioners would serve as judges in place of a civilian jury. Lawyers for the prosecution and defense had their own seats, as did courtroom transcribers and a few members of the press.

An official read the charges for a “malicious, unlawful, and traitorous conspiracy" to "murder...Abraham Lincoln." The accused pled not guilty, and the lawyers rose to begin their arguments. The reckoning had begun.

Drawing of the courtroom from Dickinson College
Photo of conspirator's chains from the Library of Congress
Photo of conspirator's hood from the Smithsonian Museum of American History

05/04/2026

On May 4, 1865, a mourning nation laid Abraham Lincoln to rest.

After weeks of public funerals in a dozen cities, the last funeral procession marched through Springfield, Illinois. It carried not only Abraham Lincoln's coffin, but also the coffin of his young son Willie. Mourners led Lincoln's horse "Old Bob" in the procession as it wound past the Lincoln home to Oak Ridge Cemetery. Mourners placed the coffins in the family vault and after a brief ceremony, closed the iron gate.

The legacy of Ford's Theatre is the legacy that Lincoln left behind. It is up to us to remember, dedicate, and continue towards Lincoln's 'unfinished work.' As one banner in Springfield said, "He Lives in the Hearts of his People."

Photo of Lincoln's horse and Rev. Henry Brown from the Library of Congress
Photo of Lincoln's tomb from the Library of Congress

Address

511 10th Street NW
Washington D.C., DC
20004

Telephone

+12024266924

Website

http://www.nps.gov/foth

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