Ford's Theater Begins Phased Reopening

Above, the presidential box where President Lincoln was assassinated. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Another sign that things are slowly getting back to normal is the reopening of historic Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

Ford's Theater was where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by disgruntled southern sympathizer actor John Wilkes Booth as he watched the play, "Our American Cousin" in April 1865.

WTOP News reported:

Early in the pandemic, the future was uncertain for D.C.’s historic Ford’s Theatre.

“There’s no more idea of ‘back to normal,'” Ford’s Theatre director Paul Tetreault told WTOP back in April. “What we’re talking about is back to a ‘new normal.’ Life as we know it is going to be very different when we return from this crisis.”

That return begins Wednesday, as Ford’s Theatre kicks off a phased reopening.

“We are thrilled to be finally opening the site for visitation,” Tetreault said. “Obviously, we’re not going to be opening for theatrical performances for some time, but we’re thrilled that we’re going to be able to open the historic theater and the museum so that people can come that in a limited capacity on timed entry [with] advanced tickets.”

To read more, go here. 

CAROLE COOK ON TRUMP: 'WHERE'S JOHN WILKES BOOTH WHEN YOU NEED HIM?'

The Looney Left Report

Liberals/leftists are so deranged that they would say anything to get attention and show the world how stupid and deranged they are.

The latest comes from the mouth of a Broadway actress.

TMZ reported:

Legendary Broadway star Carole Cook said something so shocking when asked about Donald Trump -- "Where's John Wilkes Booth when you need him?" 

Cook and her husband were leaving Craig's in WeHo Sunday night when our photog asked about a performance of "Frozen" last week, when a member of the audience unfurled a banner that read, "Trump 2020." An actor onstage ripped it from the guy's hands and threw it off stage.

Since many schools are no longer teaching U.S. history, therefore making our kids history deficient, I will tell you who John Wilkes Booth was: He assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theater.

Above, the presidential box at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To quote former Governor Edmund G. Brown, Sr. [who was referring to then-candidate Ronald Reagan]: "...it was an actor who shot Abraham Lincoln."

Maybe Carole Cook has a familial connection to Booth?

*************
UPDATE (9/12/18):

The stupid old bag's comments drew the attention of the Secret Service.

According to TMZ:

Our sources say the Secret Service saw our post and are concerned enough that they want a chit chat with the 94-year-old actress. They were quick to add it's not an official investigation -- just due diligence. If the interview unearths anything ominous, only then would it become an official investigation.

The Collapse of Ford's Theater

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

A mailer was received today from the Buffalo County (Nebraska) Historical Society.

It got me to thinking about my family's history in Shelton, Nebraska and the collapse of three upper floors of Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. in 1893.

At the time of the collapse, my great-grandfather, Charles S. Lucas (who later became the town doctor of Shelton, Nebraska during the first half of the 20th Century) was working in the building. He escaped injury. I visited Ford's Theater in 1982.

According to the blog, Boothiebarn.com:

On this date, June 9th, in 1893, a part of the three upper floors of Ford’s Theatre collapsed killing twenty two clerks and injuring over 100 more government employees. 

After the assassination of Lincoln, the government immediately seized Ford’s Theatre.  Military guards had been posted to the theatre and access was granted by War Department passes.  Matthew Brady was allowed to photograph the interior and members of the stage crew and orchestra were allowed to retrieve their items from within its walls.  After the execution of the conspirators on July 7th, 1865, John T. Ford was given permission to reopen his theatre.  He announced that the play, “The Octoroon” was to be performed on July 10th.  As is shown on the playbills and broadsides from “Our American Cousin”, “The Octoroon” was initially scheduled for April 15th.  While Ford sold over 200 tickets for the performance, there was also a large uproar over the theatre reopening after what had transpired within her walls.

After threats to the theater were made, Ford decided to close down the theater and the government purchased it.

The government decided its best option was to just retain the property.  They began paying John Ford $1,500 a month to lease his theatre.  By July of 1866, the government bought the property outright for Ford for $88,000.  Even before purchasing the building, the government had started renovating the theatre.  They transformed the interior into a three story office building.  In December of 1865, the Army Medical Museum moved into the third floor of the space.

Above, the restored Presidential Box in Ford's Theater in 1982. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The theater was turned over to the Department of the Interior and was renovated and restored to its 1865 appearance. It became a museum and working theater in 1968.

To read more, go here.

Lincoln Assassination Artifacts Reunited

Above, the presidential box at Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who are interested in U.S. history, particularly Civil War history, you are in for a very rare treat.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, various artifacts connected to the assassination have been collected and are now on display at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

According to ABC News:

Beyond his famous words, the tangible artifacts President Abraham Lincoln left behind after his assassination were scattered for decades, kept in family collections and by the government and museums from Washington to Chicago. 

Now for the first time since April 1865, curators have brought together most of the artifacts from the night the 16th president was shot at Ford's Theatre just blocks from the White House. A new exhibition, "Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination," running from next Monday to May 25 at the theater's campus will give an unprecedented look at Lincoln's death 150 years later.

The artifacts that have been brought to Ford's Theater include the Deringer pistol John Wilkes Booth used to kill President Lincoln.

I visited Ford's Theater in 1982 and found their permanent display of artifacts interesting enough. But the addition of more artifacts makes a return visit very tempting.

To read more, go here. 

The Historical Abraham Lincoln Assassination

Above, the presidential box at Ford's Theater.  The portrait of George Washington is the original.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In reading several articles in connection to Steven Spielberg's new epic, Lincoln, I am reminded of my June 1982 trip to Washington, D.C. to attend a White House reception for members of the California Ronald Reagan Delegation to the 1980 Republican National Convention.

I crammed a week's vacation in three days in Washington (that was all the vacation time I had available at the time).  Besides the White House, I also visited the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space Museum and took a boat ride down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.  The other main highlight of the trip was my visit to Ford's Theater and the Peterson rooming house across the street.  They were the first places I visited in Washington after I arrived and checked into my hotel.

Photo: Armand Vaquer.

Ford's Theater (left) was where President Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president and the first to be assassinated, was shot by actor/Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth as he sat in the presidential box watching a play, "Our American Cousin"  on the night of April 14, 1865.

Booth was familiar with the play and timed his attack on Lincoln for when the audience would erupt in laughter.  At 10:15 PM, Booth snuck into the President's box and shot him after bracing the door shut.  After Booth shot the President in the back of the head with a derringer, he jumped from the box onto the stage to make his escape.  Unfortunately for Booth, one of his spurs caught on decorative bunting and he broke his leg when he hit the stage.  He was still able to escape, but it slowed him down in the following days and he was shot and killed in a burning barn on April 26. 

Ford's Theater was restored to its appearance on that fateful night.  At one time, it was converted and used as an office building.  I have a family connection to Ford's.  My great-grandfather was working there in one of the offices when the floors collapsed, causing several deaths on June 9, 1893.  My great-grandfather was uninjured. 

Above, the suit Lincoln was wearing when he was shot.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today, besides the restored main auditorium, Ford's Theater also has a museum of Lincoln memorabilia in the basement.  Included in the collection are the clothes Lincoln was wearing when he was shot.

Above, the entrance to the house where Lincoln died.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After Lincoln was shot, it was decided that he could not survive a trip back to the White House (remember, the streets were cobblestone at that time, which would make it a rough ride), so he was carried across the street to the Petersen rooming house.  That, too, has been restored to its 1865 appearance.

 

The wound that the derringer ball caused to Lincoln's skull and brain was a fatal one. (Even if they had today's medical technology, Lincoln still could not have survived the wound.)  Members of Lincoln's family and administration stood vigil as Lincoln's life slowly ebbed away.  He died at 7:22 the next morning. 

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln sat in the rooming house's parlor during the vigil.  Her son Robert alternated between attending to his mother and keeping vigil over his father.

Secretary of State Edwin Stanton, upon Lincoln's death, said, "Now he belongs to the ages."

Photo: Armand Vaquer.

When I visited the rooming house in 1982, a pillow with Lincoln's bloodstains rested encased on the bed (above photo). 

One of the best books chronicling Lincoln's assassination is Jim Bishop's The Day Lincoln Was Shot.