The Peterson House
by Ed Weidman
Title
The Peterson House
Artist
Ed Weidman
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
Ford's Theatre is a historic theatre in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning.
The theatre was later used as a warehouse and office building, and in 1893 part of it collapsed, causing 22 deaths. It was renovated and re-opened as a theatre in 1968. During the 2000s it was renovated again, opening on February 12, 2009, in commemoration of Lincoln's bicentennial. A related "Center for Education and Leadership" museum experience opened February 12, 2012 next to Petersen House.
The Petersen House and the theatre are preserved together as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service; programming within the theatre and the "Center for Education" is overseen separately by the Ford's Theatre Society in a public-private partnership.[2] Ford's Theatre is located at 511 10th Street, NW.
The National Historic Site consisting of two contributing buildings, the theatre and the Petersen House, was designated in 1932.
The Ford's Theater Museum beneath the theatre contains portions of the Olroyd Collection of Lincolniana. On display are multiple items related to the assassination, including the Derringer pistol used to carry out the shooting, Booth's diary and the original door to Lincoln's theatre box. In addition, a number of Lincoln's family items, his coat (without the blood-stained pieces), some statues of Lincoln and several large portraits of the President, are on display in the museum. The blood-stained pillow from the President's deathbed is in the Ford's Theatre Museum. The rocking chair in which Lincoln was sitting is now on display at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The theatre was again renovated during the 2000s. The re-opening ceremony was on February 12, 2009, which commemorated Lincoln's 200th birthday. It has a current capacity of 661.
Tours of Ford's Theatre and the adjacent Petersen House are by timed-entry ticket. Tickets can be reserved ahead, and there are also tickets available on the day of entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free.
Petersen House is located across from Ford's Theatre.
Ford TheatreAttendants, including Dr. Charles Leale, carried the President onto 10th Street. The doctor decided to take him to Petersen's boarding house across the street. The streets were extremely crowded with people because of the uproar. A captain cleared the way to the brick federal style rowhouse. A boarder, Henry Safford, noticed what was going on and stood on the front steps crying, "Bring him in here! Bring him in here!" Then he was taken into the bedroom in the rear of the parlors and placed on a bed that was not long enough for him. Mrs. Lincoln was escorted across the street by Clara Harris, who had been in the box during the shooting, and whose fiancé, Henry Rathbone, had been stabbed by Booth during the assassination. Rathbone, bleeding severely from the knife wound in his arm, collapsed from loss of blood after arriving at the Petersen House.
During the night and early morning, military guards patrolled outside to prevent onlookers from coming inside the house. A parade of government officials and physicians was allowed to come inside and pay respects to the unconscious President. Physicians continually removed blood clots which formed over the wound and poured out the excess brain fluid and brain matter from where the bullet had entered Lincoln's head in order to relieve pressure on the brain. However, the external and internal hemorrhaging continued throughout the night. Lincoln died in the house on April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m., at age 56. Among the attending physicians was Anderson Ruffin Abbott, a black, Canadian-educated doctor who later wrote "Some recollections of Lincoln's assassination".[9]
The National Park Service has operated the Petersen House as a historic house museum since 1933. The rooms have been furnished to appear as if it were the night of Abraham Lincoln's death.
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January 5th, 2014
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