Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership

The fourth and final stop on a tour of Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site is at the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership, which is located adjacent to the Peterson House, the third stop. To reach it, walk out the back porch of the house and follow the sign to the elevator. The tour is designed to continue at the museum on the fourth floor and work its way down to the lobby level.

The Center for Education and Leadership is owned solely by the Ford’s Theatre Society, which purchased the building and had it renovated. The facility opened in 2012. The name is somewhat of an enigma for a tourist, but all you need to know is that there are two museums pertaining to Lincoln on the third and fourth floors, plus a special exhibit room on the second floor. The first floor is where you will find the lobby and a souvenir / book store. Other floors serve as office space for the theater and classrooms where seminars, workshops, and after-school programs are held for students and teachers, thus the name Center for Education and Leadership.

The exhibit area on the fourth floor, known as the Aftermath Gallery, completes the story of Abraham Lincoln’s time as president and his assassination on April 14th, 1865. When you enter the museum you are now stepping forward in time from the night of the assassination to the days, weeks, and months that followed. The first exhibit focuses on Lincoln’s funeral and includes a reproduction of his funeral train car, plus various artifacts such as two tassels from his catafalque, the wooden structure on which the coffin sits while on display.

Reproduction of Lincoln’s funeral car on display in the Aftermath Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

Tassels from Lincoln’s catafalque on display in the Aftermath Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

The remainder of the floor covers the escape of and hunt for John Wilkes Booth and his cohorts. While Booth managed to elude authorities for nearly two weeks, most of the others were rounded up rather quickly.

The hunt for John Wilkes Booth exhibit in the Aftermath Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

A key exhibit is an animated map that shows the route Booth took before finally being cornered inside a barn located in Port Royal, Virginia. The farm owner, Richard Garrett, had no idea about the assassination and welcomed Booth and his partner David Herold, who used fictitious names. In the meantime, twenty-six soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel Everton Conger had tracked Booth and Herold to the farm and ordered them to surrender. Herold came out, but Booth refused, so the barn was set on fire. Booth was seen moving inside and was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett, who claimed Booth was about to shoot at the soldiers. Booth was shot in the neck, a fatal wound that he would die from just three hours later. The date was April 26, 1865.

Animated map of Booth’s escape route in the Aftermath Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

It was ruled that the rest of the conspirators should receive a military trail, which does not need a unanimous jury to convict—only a majority of a nine-member commission was required—and the death penalty could be handed out with only a two-thirds vote. Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth’s broken ankle, Samuel Arnold, and Michael O’Laughlen were sentenced to life in prison. Arnold and O’Laughlen had been part of an earlier plan to kidnap Lincoln, but dropped out after a failed attempt and had nothing to do with the murder plot. A fourth man, Ned Spangler, arranged to handle the horse on which Booth used to escape from Ford’s Theatre and was given six years. Spangler argued that Booth had asked him to take care of the horse while he went inside the theater, which he often did whenever Booth came by, and that he had no idea of what was going on.

All four men served time at Fort Jefferson, which is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, seventy miles off the coast of Key West, Florida. During an 1867 outbreak of Yellow Fever, Dr. Mudd and Spangler helped treat patients. Spangler, a carpenter, built the coffins for those who died. For their bravery, and the fact that evidence against them was suspect, Mudd and Spangler were pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1869 (Arnold was also pardoned). O’Laughlen died during the outbreak.

Four of the conspirators were sentenced to hang:

• Mary Surratt ran the inn where the assassination plans were hatched. She was the first female in the United States to be executed. Her son, John, was also involved, but he fled to Canada and then on to Europe. It wasn’t until 1866 that he was finally captured in Egypt. He stood trial in front of a civilian jury that could not reach a verdict, so he was set free.

• Lewis Powell was to kill Secretary of State William Seward, but during the attack was only able to wound him several times with a knife.

• George Atzerodt was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, but got scared, getting drunk instead, thus he was executed for doing nothing other than being involved.

• David Herold had accompanied Powell to the Seward residence to show him were it was, and later met up with Booth and helped him to escape.

After viewing the exhibits on the fourth floor, head down one level to the Legacy Gallery. Not only is Lincoln’s influence on future politics discussed, but also his role in today’s pop culture. A fun exhibit shows all of the different ways that Lincoln and his image have surfaced for commercial purposes, including in movies, comic books, toys, and on clothing and shoes.

Abraham Lincoln in pop culture exhibit in the Legacy Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

Abraham Lincoln in pop culture exhibit in the Legacy Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

Exhibit on future presidents who looked up to Lincoln in the Legacy Gallery at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

As you descend down a spiral staircase from one floor to the next, you wind your way past a 34-foot tower of 6,800 books about Lincoln. The books are aluminum reproductions, but the shear number of them, all about one man, staggers the imagination…and this is only ten percent of the books about Lincoln that have been published.

Lincoln Book Tower in the Center for Education and Leadership at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

The second floor, called the Leadership Gallery, hosts temporary exhibits. When I visited, there was a display of more Lincoln artifacts, including the coat he was wearing the night of the assassination. It is in poor condition and is displayed only six months out of the year. No photos were allowed, and because this exhibit will be long gone by the time you are reading this, I don’t have much to report.

The tour concludes when you exit the Center for Education and Leadership. If you rented an Acoustiguide, be sure to return it back to the theater lobby.

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