Ford`s Theater

I miss Ford`s Theater. Since we left Virginia in June, the one place that I miss the most is Ford`s Theater. It may seem like an odd place to miss, but I truly do. When we first moved to Virginia we did all the DC tourist trips. We would go to all the monuments and museums, and one of the first places we visited was Ford`s Theater. My husband and I went to the museum in the basement, the tour of the theater, and across the street to the Petersen House, and the Center for Education and Leadership. The Petersen House is the boarding house where President Lincoln died. The history in those two buildings is amazing. No matter how many times I went, and there were many, I always saw or learned something new.

A rare photo of the outside of the Theater without people standing in front.

The first time we went to a play in the Theater we saw "Hello Dolly" and sat in the balcony seats right next to the box where Lincoln was shot. It was so strange to be that close to the spot of an event that was one of the lowest points in our country's history. It was even stranger to sit and laugh watching the play next to a place where such a solemn event occurred. Yet we did.

This is the box where Lincoln was shot.         

When you visit the Theater the first time it is amazing how small everything seems. The aisle in the theater, the door to the President's box, the stairwells, and even the stage. It is all very intimate. We have been very lucky to see several plays and musicals in the theater and have loved every one. The best was being able to take our Sons to see "A Christmas Carol" at Ford`s. We had front row center balcony seats, and they were awesome. If we had stayed in Virginia, I am sure that would have become a Christmas tradition.

Such an intimate theater. Our favorite seats were front row in the middle of the balcony.              

         

The Theater`s museum has several important items that you have read about in history books, like the derringer that Booth used to shoot the President. They have Booth`s diary, and the boot that Dr. Mudd cut off of him when he broke his leg jumping off the balcony to the stage of the Theater.  Some say he broke his leg falling off his horse, but I am sticking with the fall from the balcony.The museum also has the clothing and cloak that Lincoln wore to the Theater that tragic night.

Clothes President Lincoln was wearing when assassinated.

When Lincoln was shot he was attended to by a doctor that was also attending the play, Dr. Charles Leale, a 23 year old Union Army surgeon, who just graduated from medical school 6 weeks earlier. Dr. Leale recognized that President Lincoln`s wound was mortal and that he would not survive the carriage trip to the White House.

Dr. Charles Augustus Leale 

Dr. Leale had the dying President moved to a place out of the public view. They carried the President down the stairs and into the street. There was a boarding house across the street, the Petersen House, where a boarder saw the commotion and directed them into the house. They took the President into the house and to a back bedroom, where they had to put him on the bed diagonally because he was too tall, 6`4, to lay length wise. Dr. Leale then gave control of the President`s care to this Family physician, and he was tended to by him and another doctor until he passed the following morning. I cannot even imagine having such responsibility at the age of 23 and only 6 weeks on the job. You know how people say your name is Mudd if you are unpopular for an action, maybe we should say your name is Leale when you do something awesome! I could start a trend here.

The actual bed where Lincoln died is not in the Petersen House, 
but in the Chicago History Museum, Really?    

Next door, attached to the Petersen House, is the Center for Education and Leadership. This museum follows the aftermath of the President`s assassination.The museum covers the funeral, the manhunt and capture of Booth, and Lincoln`s legacy.  When you walk down the spiral staircase from the top floor of the museum to the ground floor gift shop, you will see a very unique display. This tower  that is several stories high is made of about 7000  of the over 15,000 books written about President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is second only to Jesus Christ with the number of books written about him.

Tower of books about Lincoln.

It is hard to believe that these are not really books, but bent aluminum pieces with book covers printed on them.  This is a close up picture and it is impossible tell that they are not real books.  I have seen them in person at least a half a dozen times, and I did not know they were not really books.

Do you now see why I miss this place so much?