Lincoln Assassination Photography

Above, Abraham Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In June 1982, I was invited to a reception at the White House as part of the California Reagan Delegation to the 1980 Republican National Convention.

Above, Ford's Theater in 1982.
Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While in Washington, D.C. I crammed about a week's worth of touring in three days. Among the places I visited were the U.S. Capitol, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the Air & Space Museum and Ford's Theater.

Ford's Theater was the site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Southern sympathizer.

Booth snuck into the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater during a presentation of the play, "Our American Cousin" and shot the President in the back of the head.

Last November, I visited the Abraham Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. In the museum, there were numerous life-sized dioramas of different events in Lincoln's life. One of these was the assassination at Ford's.









The first photo below was from Ford's Theater in 1982. The portrait of George Washington is the actual one that hung there the night Lincoln was shot in April 1865.

Above, the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Next, the diorama of President and Mrs. Lincoln at Ford's Theater at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Above, the Lincolns watching the play, "Our American Cousin". Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Next, John Wilks Booth sneaks into the Presidential Box during the play. Earlier, he carved a peephole in an inner door to the Presidential Box so he can see Lincoln before he went inside. He also used wooden bar to fasten or hold the outer entrance door shut.

Above, Booth sneaks into the Presidential Box. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Following the shooting, the mortally-wounded Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen rooming house, where he died the next morning. It was felt that Lincoln would not survive being taken back to the White House.

Above, the blood-stained pillow is on display at the rooming house where Lincoln died. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There is a small museum in the Ford's Theater basement. Among the items on display, is the suit Lincoln wore when he was shot.

Above, the suit Lincoln wore when shot. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Petersen rooming house. Lincoln was carried up these stairs. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Lincoln lies in state diorama at the Lincoln Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Illinois. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Lincoln In Death Photograph Discovered

The only known photograph of President Lincoln in his coffin was discovered by a teen in 1952.

From AbrahamLincolnonline.org:

More than 50 years ago a 14-year-old boy found a photograph of President Abraham Lincoln in his coffin taken on April 24, 1865, in New York City. The discovery startled historians, because Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War, had ordered this photograph to be destroyed. Stranger yet, the one surviving print remained with Stanton, whose son preserved it.

Above, the only known photograph of Lincoln in death.