Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination

[RJNorton]

Ford's Theatre Society announced that a hallmark museum exhibition, Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination, will return a priceless collection of items that were in the Theatre or carried by Abraham Lincoln the night of his assassination to the Center for Education and Leadership (514 Tenth Street, NW), March 23 to May 25, 2015. The exhibition will coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination and death on April 14 and 15, 2015.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-...-20140929#

[L Verge]

We are trying our best to get our conference attendees who are going on the Sunday Booth Tour with James Swanson on March 22 in to see this exhibit before it opens the next day. Keep your fingers crossed.

---

I may start crying now! We just found out that the Lincoln carriage display at the Smithsonian will be opening at the same time as the Ford's exhibit - March 23. It was originally scheduled to open earlier, and we were including that display in our Friday bus tour. Back to the drawing board just as we were getting ready to print all of our conference materials.

[ReignetteC]

(10-01-2014 05:29 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Ford's Theatre Society announced that a hallmark museum exhibition, Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination, will return a priceless collection of items that were in the Theatre or carried by Abraham Lincoln the night of his assassination to the Center for Education and Leadership (514 Tenth Street, NW), March 23 to May 25, 2015. The exhibition will coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination and death on April 14 and 15, 2015.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-...-20140929#

Thanks, Roger. I had the chills (pardon the cliché) reading the article, especially when I saw the picture of the Brooks Brothers greatcoat. I have never seen the original and simply cannot wait to see the historic relic. (I just wish Ford's would find some way to display the coat on an on-going basis and not return it to storage after the exhibition.) By the way, I recently gave a presentation about the greatcoat and its historic odyssey here in northwest NJ at the Morris Museum - the lecture was part of the Morris Community School's Lincoln series and was well attended. From its FB page:

"On Monday, 9/15/14, Great Horizons opens its Lincoln Series from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. at the Morris Museum with "One Country, One Destiny: The Odyssey of President Lincoln's Greatcoat," featuring Reignette Chilton. We have just learned that Brooks Brothers has agreed to lend us their replica of the original greatcoat for display during the lecture! This is the coat Lincoln was wearing when he visited Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 and met his fate. Ms. Chilton worked for Brooks Brothers for many years and became fascinated with the history and mystery surrounding this very special coat, which they created for President Lincoln’s second inauguration. She made its study her avocation and published an article in April 2014 in the Morris Daily Record telling some of its story.
This program is available either as an individual lecture or as part of the five lecture series. Visit our website at http://www.morriscommunityschool.org or call our office at 973-292-2063 to register."

[RJNorton]

Kudos on your presentation, Reignette! I am most curious about the dress fragments from Clara Harris' dress. We recently had a discussion of her dress on the forum. I wonder if the Chicago History Museum is lending out their fragment. I was unaware that Ford's had fragments from Clara Harris' dress.

[LincolnToddFan]

Oh my gawd...to be able to attend this would send me into orbit...!!

ETA: That Brooks Brothers coat looks rather small for AL...has it shrunk??

[Angela]

Thank you so much for this, Roger! That coat is really all I want to see - I have heard so much about how beautiful and well made it is and how rare the occasions are that it is been shown nowadays. While I have already made plans to be in the vicinity, I hope I'll be able to snatch some tickets for this! Again, thank you so much for the early heads up. October 20th is in my calendar!

[Rhatkinson]

This promises to be a great exhibit

http://www.fords.org/event/silent-witnesses

March 23-May 25, 2015

This hallmark exhibition will reunite—for the first time since April 1865—an extraordinary collection of artifacts that were in the Theatre or carried by Abraham Lincoln the night of his assassination

Included within the exhibition are:
Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, cuff buttons, a Brooks Brothers Great Coat and the contents of his pockets from the night of the assassination
Mary Todd Lincoln’s black velvet cape
John Wilkes Booth’s deringer pistol
a letter from Dr. Charles Leale, the first to attend to the wounded president; the Bunting Flag from the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre
fragments from the gowns worn by Mary Todd Lincoln and guest Clara Harris; gloves belonging to Major Henry Rathbone
a bloody sleeve cuff and fragment from the costume worn by leading actress Laura Keene
a playbill for the performance of Our American Cousin
and a violin and drumsticks used in the orchestra the night of April 14, 1865.

Additionally, Lincoln’s carriage, which transported the President, Mary Todd Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris to Ford’s Theatre, will be on display at the National Museum of American History, March 23 to May 25, 2015.

Lenders
Lenders for Silent Witnesses include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; Chicago History Museum; Library of Congress; National Museum of American History; National Park Service; Pike County Historical Society; Shapell Manuscript Foundation; Studebaker National Museum; and historian James Swanson.

[Rsmyth]

Thank you for posting this. I would love to see these relic especially the carriage!

[L Verge]

I can finally exhale in relief and send the Surratt Conference 2015 materials to the printer! After some negotiations ($$$) with the Ford's Theatre Society, we received permission today to include pre-opening visits to both the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to see the Lincoln carriage on Friday's bus tour - March 20 - and the main exhibit at the Ford's Theatre Society's Education Center early in the morning of March 22, as we begin our Booth Tour with James Swanson at the helm. Both exhibits do not officially open until March 23. This may very well be the last time in many years when the public will be able to see all of these relics together at one time. The cost of proper security was the major concern in allowing our group in ahead of the official opening.

In their advertisements, however, one tiny letter causes me some concern -- "a" Brooks Brothers great coat. We won't know until we get there, but perhaps the reproduction will be on display because the original is in such sad state? As for the carriage, it is separate from the main exhibit because of the size. Only the Smithsonian could accommodate it and properly secure it.

I hope to have the full conference packets in the mail to all Surratt members and those who have indicated an interest during the first week of November.

[STS Lincolnite]

Thanks Laurie!! You are truly a treasure in your own right. And thankfully not an artifact yet!!

I can hardly wait until March!

[RickBeaver]

(10-10-2014 07:19 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I can finally exhale in relief and send the Surratt Conference 2015 materials to the printer! After some negotiations ($$$) with the Ford's Theatre Society, we received permission today to include pre-opening visits to both the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to see the Lincoln carriage on Friday's bus tour - March 20 - and the main exhibit at the Ford's Theatre Society's Education Center early in the morning of March 22, as we begin our Booth Tour with James Swanson at the helm. Both exhibits do not officially open until March 23. This may very well be the last time in many years when the public will be able to see all of these relics together at one time. The cost of proper security was the major concern in allowing our group in ahead of the official opening.

In their advertisements, however, one tiny letter causes me some concern -- "a" Brooks Brothers great coat. We won't know until we get there, but perhaps the reproduction will be on display because the original is in such sad state? As for the carriage, it is separate from the main exhibit because of the size. Only the Smithsonian could accommodate it and properly secure it.

I hope to have the full conference packets in the mail to all Surratt members and those who have indicated an interest during the first week of November.

Look like someone removed that "a" so should be the original coat - from the Fords link:
Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, cufflinks, Brooks Brother’s Great Coat and the contents of his pockets from the night of the assassination
Mary Todd Lincoln’s black velvet cape

[LincolnToddFan]

Way to go, Laurie!

[L Verge]

Rick, I do hope you are correct that THE great coat comes out of storage for two months.

I want to say that the Ford's Theatre Society is achieving great things for the Theatre that government funds with the National Park Service would be unable to do. They have secured great support from some major corporations for this particular exhibit, and I did not realize until going through these negotiations that the new Education Center beside Petersen House is owned by the Society, not by the government.

---

(10-10-2014 07:50 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  Thanks Laurie!! You are truly a treasure in your own right. And thankfully not an artifact yet!!

I can hardly wait until March!

Maybe not an artifact, Scott, but there are days when I feel like a beat-up old relic...

[Diana Rubino]

Can't wait to go and see this!

http://news.yahoo.com/lincoln-assassinat...06027.html