Assasination relics: Clothing, chairs, death-scene stuff, and other macabre items
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06-27-2016, 07:28 AM
Post: #11
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RE: Assasination relics: Clothing, chairs, death-scene stuff, and other macabre items
(06-24-2016 09:36 AM)Tim1965 Wrote:(06-24-2016 08:25 AM)J. Beckert Wrote: Hello, Tim. You need to hear from forum members Rich Smythe and Jim Garrett - the Assassination relic gurus. I have researched the pre- and post-assassination Ford’s Theatre, so perhaps I can provide some information about the building that may be helpful. I think the idea of the preservation of the presidential box beyond 1865 is a myth. After the government seized the theater and leased it from Ford, the building was gutted. Internally it was a shell. Gone were the stage, overhead walkways, proscenium arch, presidential box and other boxes, dress circle, family circle, and dome. The orchestra and parquette ground floor was torn away. Richard Dunbar from Brooklyn won the bidding competition against nine other contractors and internally was to construct a “fire-proof building.” Part of the standard fireproofing process was to construct concrete and brick floors instead of wooden floors. After constructing a massive brick foundation in the cellar and building the first floor, Dunbar brought in subcontracted experts to set up the iron framework of columns, girders, and beams to support the heavy second and third floors. The presidential box was built into the proscenium arch, which framed the stage. When that arch was torn out, the box was necessarily dismantled. Ford was allowed to keep salvageable parts of the arch, which he thought “only valuable as fire wood,” and the iron columns. Nothing of the foundational architecture of the box, the framing of the box, remained in the building. None of the statements of work about the renovation or the records from the files of the quartermaster general, in charge of the project, mentioned preserving, working around, or reinstalling the box. The original purpose of the renovation was to construct a “giant warehouse” for the “Rebel Archives,” the captured Confederate records under the supervision of Francis Lieber. The renovation consisted of two stages from 1) theater to warehouse and from 2) warehouse to museum/office building. Once the Army surgeon general asked Secretary Stanton for the building in late November and early December 1865, and he agreed, additional construction had to occur, such as installing a boiler and heating system. Dunbar only worked on the first, main stage of the renovation, and he did more than just build floors. I think the myth of the box’s preservation started when the Evening Star in October 1865 stated plainly that the presidential box “has been preserved entire, and will be placed as near as possible in its former position.” This incorrect news article had credibility because the lease stated that if by February 1, 1866 the government did not purchase the building outright, Ford would get it back in its original condition. The government, for example, stored the audience chairs in a warehouse in case of a give-back. Stanton had to wait until Congress reconvened and appropriated the money before he could buy the building. I have looked at many 19th century government reports and news articles about the 1893 collapse, but found no reference to the presidential box in the rubble. In 1942 the assistant director of the National Park Service learned from Ford’s grandson that the box was not preserved by the family and that “the only preserved section of the box is the door, already donated to the museum.” I’m a bit embarrassed about the long entry here, but I hope it helps to clarify what happened to the box and theater. |
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