Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination

[L Verge]

As I read this post, Tom Bogar and 51 other people who registered for the Surratt Conference are touring Civil War exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery in D.C. There's a new exhibit there on Washington during the Civil War that is a must-see.

From the Gallery, they will then go to Clara Barton's downtown office where Miss Barton did so much work helping soldiers and families after the war. Several years ago, one of our conference tours included this site when it had just been re-discovered and needed mucho rehabilitation. It will be interesting to see the restored building now.

After lunch, the bus tour will clear the security hurdles of getting onto Ft. McNair so that our visitors can climb to the third floor of Grant Hall - the only portion of the old Arsenal Penitentiary that still exists - to tour the re-created trial room of 1865.

They will return to the museum in time for an opening reception at our James O. Hall Research Center, where they will be joined by 50 or so others who are coming to the conference -- plus my high bosses with the government agency that owns Surratt House.