150th Anniversary of Lincoln Conspiracy Trial - Fort McNair

[barryssentials]

Hi all and hello Roger, my long lost friend: Barry here. It has been too long. It was wonderful to see Betty, Dave, Mike, Louise, Kate Cliffard-Larson and her husband Spencer, Lindsey, Susan Lemke from the NDU, Arthur Candenquist and of course John on Friday. At least these were the folks I had a chance to actually have a quick conversation with. I saw, but never had the opportunity to say hi to Joan (hi Joan, sorry I missed you). Our military-based hosts tried to keep to their schedule and so my time was pleasantly regulated (LOL). In other words, they kept me very busy meeting officers and staff and people who helped to make this a reality.

Although the evening event started at 5:30 as a reception, my day started at 10:00am when John and I met to lay out the actual locations of the scaffold, Booth's burial location, the 4 conspirators' and Henry Wirz graves, the exit door from the penitentiary, the 20' high east wall and the Shoe Factory where Alexander Gardner took his famous photos. After six years of intimately living this site in my head and on paper, it was a real thrill for me to actually lay out these locations in their original places. Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you and so I was surprised to see the final locations of the graves when I spray painted them on the ground using chalk spray. Over the years, you get an image in your head as to how close things should be to the tennis court fence. But when I laid the graves out, the 7' long graves which I envisioned to be about 3-4 feet from the fence actually laid out to be 11' from the fence and 8' from the east wall. The math was right but my visual impression must have been skewed. As for the scaffold, it remained almost where I originally plotted it except that about 3' of its 20' width rests not on the tennis court but just outside of the fence line nearest to Grant Hall. Although the heat was in the high 80's that day, John indulged me to get all the measurements I wanted and helped in laying out the markers. It took about 3 hours to do. Thanks John for all your help again.
On Saturday, May 9th, Mike, John and I were there all day for the open house and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. John and Mike split the presentation duties up in the courtroom while I handled the walking tours outside. Four groups of about 45 people each had signed up and were slotted to come in throughout the day from 10 to 4. Again, it was hot but I really had a good time sharing history with all who attended. If you went to this, please give us your impression. I'd like to know.
Everyone have a great day and thanks for listening.
Barry

PS. The folks from Fort McNair/Fort Myers and the NDU were wonderful to us and I want to thank all involved for putting this on and having me there. Thanks again. Barry.