In , a section of the interior collapsed, killing 22 people, and alterations to the building, including the facade, followed in After many years of serving as storage space, Ford's Theatre was transferred to the ownership of the National Park Service in , and in , the building was restored to its appearance.
Currently, the building continues to stage plays and operate as a theatre, in addition to hosting a museum relating to the Lincoln assassination. The National Historic Site also encompasses the Peterson House, located across the street, where Lincoln died the morning after he had been shot at Ford's Theatre.
Purchased by the U. It is open to the public as a historic house museum. For full functionality please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Need Help? This stain is consistent with documentation that suggests the chair was stored in a basement after the assassination and prior to its purchase by Mr. A preliminary test for blood using the reagent Benzidine yielded positive results in two areas--the front of the seat and near the upper portion of the back.
More extensive testing would be required to provide additional information regarding its origin. Given the chair's well-documented history and a lack of available samples of the President's blood and DNA, The Henry Ford has decided not to pursue further testing. In , following testing, museum conservators carefully cleaned the delicate silk fabric and removed some plaster stains using a tiny spatula.
The upholstery was then covered with a thin polyester fabric attached with adhesive and tiny stitches in order to hold the fragile fragments of the fabric together. After treatment the newly conserved chair returned to exhibit in the Museum. In , the chair became a key artifact in a major exhibit on American freedom titled "With Liberty and Justice for All," where it may be seen today.
They are drawn to it not simply because of its role at the center of a tragedy, but as symbol of a beloved president. There is a unique sense of awe and reverence that the chair provides. As such, this rocking chair personifies the sacrifice made by Abraham Lincoln in fashioning a more perfect Union.
United States. United States, District of Columbia, Washington. Chairs Furniture forms. Rocking chairs. Theaters Buildings. United States presidents. Civil wars. American Civil War, Booth, John Wilkes, Lincoln, Abraham, Lincoln, Mary Todd, Rathbone, Henry Reed, Ford's Theatre Washington, D. Renaissance Revival. Rococo Revival. Carving Processes Upholstering.
Should a suitable memorial be established in its location? July 6, John T. Ford announces the re-opening of the theater via newspapers in Washington, DC. The performance scheduled for July 10 was planned as a benefit for the Lincoln National Monument Fund. He sold over tickets to Octoroon , the play that had been scheduled to run on April Peabody, with a detachment of about thirty men, appeared on the ground, and took possession of the building, placing guards at all the entrances of the same, and notifying the manager that he would not be allowed to open the theatre for the present.
Photograph of the state box at Ford's Theatre, taken just days after the assassination Library of Congress. A few days later, interior demolition had begun and the presidential box was removed and taken to an undisclosed location. By now, the very theater interior that had been the center of a national dialogue on how to commemorate the murder of a president, was completely gone. The theatre was now completely under government control, with updates on its progress reported by newspapers around the country.
The interior demolition of the theatre allowed for the building to be converted into three floors. The structure still maintained the original four exterior walls and front facade, all present the night of the assassination. The first and second floors were designated as offices for the Division of Records and Pensions, providing needed space for staff to work through the immense backlog of Civil War pension applications.
December The Division of Records and Pensions relocated over 16, bound document groups and an accompanying library of books. April 16, The U. In its first year, the museum hosted 6, visitors. The museum is operated in tandem with what was now also a work site for government employees.
By The library of The Division of Records and Pensions had grown in size to 10, books, an increase from its initial inventory of 2, volumes. By The U. By Displays at the Army Medical Museum allowed visitors to examine the remains of both Union and Confederate soldiers.
The authenticity and stark reality of these exhibits enabled visitors to contemplate the meaning and purpose of the Civil War, and the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, some 25 years later. By John T. Yet, despite the fact that 27 years had passed, people came to the site because it was where Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated.
Employees of the museum were able to point out the general location of the presidential box to curious visitors, and provide them with the details of that terrible night. Collapsed interior of Ford's Theatre, viewed from the second floor near the Tenth Street entrance side, Basement excavations had destabilized the building causing 40 feet of the third floor to collapse into the two floors below, killing 22 and injuring 65 people.
A horrified public gathered as workers searched for survivors amidst a pile of bricks and rubble. More on the Collapse of Old Ford's Theatre. In addition to the outcry from the public over the causes of this disastrous event, there was concern over the loss of important pension records.
By this time, the Division of Records and Pensions was responsible for original Civil War medical records, and were in the process of generating references that would help to expedite pension claims, and requests for records of military service. December Repairs to the building were completed. It remained a storehouse for various records and publications until
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