Carrying Lincoln to the Petersen House

[Wesley Harris]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lin...story.html

Anyone ever heard of this painting? No telling what else is in storage we don't know about.

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(01-29-2016 10:55 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lin...story.html

Anyone ever heard of this painting? No telling what else is in storage we don't know about.

Well, after some browsing, I see someone has already posted this. So what other artifacts, etc. exist that only the most ardent Boothies know about?

[RJNorton]

(01-29-2016 10:55 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  So what other artifacts, etc. exist that only the most ardent Boothies know about?

Wes, I think we may have discussed this once, but how about the death bonnet of Mary Surratt?

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/25295

I have forgotten - is there provenance for this?

[Jim Garrett]

The collection of items in the FOTH (FOrd's THeatre) collection of the NPS numbers over 14,000 items. Unfortunately, it collection is not on a single database and only a few people in the NPS are really adept at finding items in the collection that may be somewhat on the on=bscure side. As Dave Taylor will attest, you can inquire about an artifact, and if you are fortunate, you will get a response in a few days.......or a few weeks. In some cases, they can verify that an artifact is in the collection, but they may or may not be able to find it, such as a CDV Dave asked about a couple of years ago.

The FOTH collection has everything from Booth's Derringer to sneakers with Abraham Lincoln's image on them.

[Thomas Kearney]

Lincoln Borne By Loving Hands was painted by Carl Bersch, who was sketching the end of the war celebrations on 10th Street when Lincoln was carried to the Petersen House. It was not seen on public display until 1932, when the Lincoln Museum opened on the first floor of the old theater building. After the conversion back to the 1865 appearance, The Lincoln Museum moved to the basement. The painting was put into storage. There was only one display case on the assassination, as the NPS did not want to draw attention to a tragedy in a decade of tragedy. The museum was renovated in 1988 to focus on the assassination and White House life for the Lincolns. The museum layout featured glass cases with different subtopics and one of them was the Death Of Lincoln. The painting was put on display with the pillow from the bed. When the museum was renovated for the bicentennial, Theater director Paul Tetreault felt the painting was vulgar, and the Park Service put the painting into storage. I don't see any vulgarity in it.

I came across an old postcard online that shows a drawing of the painting on display in the Lincoln Museum's first incarnation:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/218122928/v...-president

It looks nothing like the original painting.

[Wesley Harris]

(01-29-2016 01:43 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-29-2016 10:55 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  So what other artifacts, etc. exist that only the most ardent Boothies know about?

Wes, I think we may have discussed this once, but how about the death bonnet of Mary Surratt?

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/25295

I have forgotten - is there provenance for this?

Maybe our photo experts John Elliott and Barry Cauchon could tell us if the bonnet matches the execution photos to any degree.

[BettyO]

I have not seen this bonnet in person, but I know that it is a "winter padded bonnet." I own one myself. They were worn expressively in winter as they were quilted and padded. Just why Mary would be wearing a quilted winter bonnet in hot July is beyond me, unless Anna simply grabbed the first bonnet she could to take to Mary in prison; or perhaps Mary was still wearing this bonnet in April when arrested. It could be worn in chilly, spring weather I would guess.... just my two cents.....

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

[L Verge]

That's been one of the questions I have had, Betty, ever since seeing the photos of the bonnet. And, it doesn't even match the description of the skuttle bonnet that the lady on the boardinghouse porch was supposedly wearing when she talked briefly to Mr. Smoot on the night of the assassination.

I tend to put some faith in the provenance of this bonnet, however, despite the fact that I have gotten it through sources other than at the small "museum" where it is on display. I have contacted them at least three times over the past 20 years and have never received a response of any kind.

[Lincoln Wonk]

(01-29-2016 10:55 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lin...story.html

Anyone ever heard of this painting? No telling what else is in storage we don't know about.

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(01-29-2016 10:55 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lin...story.html

Anyone ever heard of this painting? No telling what else is in storage we don't know about.

Well, after some browsing, I see someone has already posted this. So what other artifacts, etc. exist that only the most ardent Boothies know about?

What's great about the painting is it verifies that there was at least one street light in front of Ford's in 1865, and we know there was one in front of Petersen's Boarding House, so people looking out of the windows or off porches that rainy night likely were able to see the things they said they saw.