Washington, D.C.—The National Park Service and Ford’s Theatre Society announced that Abraham Lincoln’s wool overcoat, currently on display in the Ford’s Theatre lobby, will be replaced by its replica on June 30, 2010. Following several months in conservation storage, the original Brooks Brothers coat will return to the Ford’s Theatre lobby in February 2011 where it will remain on display until June 2011.

The National Park Service with the support of Ford’s Theatre Society has agreed to display the original Lincoln coat for six months annually in an effort to balance conservation of and public access to the historic artifact worn by Abraham Lincoln on the night he was shot at Ford’s Theatre. Additional clothing artifacts worn by Abraham Lincoln to Ford’s Theatre (suit coat, vest, pants, bowtie and boots) remain on permanent display within the Ford’s Theatre Museum.

For more information on Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site and the Ford’s Theatre Society, please visit www.nps.gov/foth and www.fords.org