"I read Fences in 1987 and was so moved by its portrait of the deeply troubled Troy Maxson that, as soon as I had turned the last page, I vowed to read everything I could get my hands on that was written by August Wilson.”  Thus began Dr. Sandra Shannon's more than 30-year career as a leading scholar of his life and work. 

Since our History on Foot tours began in 2008, more than 28,500 patrons have patrolled the streets of downtown D.C. as deputies with Detective James A. McDevitt as their guide. In September 2019, our tour celebrated 1,000 performances!

August Wilson’s Century Cycle is a towering achievement of 10 plays documenting the hopes and struggles of African Americans. With increasing popularity in the last 10 years, Fences has become an American classic, dedicated to unearthing the lives, hopes, dreams and struggles of African Americans.

On April 16, 2019, Ford’s Theatre and Wikimedia DC hosted a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon. The theme for this event was “diversifying the Lincoln Assassination story.”

As the Ford’s Theatre Teacher-in-Residence for four weeks this summer, Karen Richey researched contemporary speeches from a wide range of human experiences and cultures. Discover new resources that students can use to make connections between the past and present and see take part in civic dialogue.

A new interactive museum feature will let visitors learn about the Lincoln assassination through the eyes of four real people who lived through it.

Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service worked together to create an interpretive plan, defining how we interpret history at Ford’s Theatre. Read on to learn how the interpretive plan came about and what it includes.

Ford’s Theatre works with First Chair Interpreted Productions to offer American Sign Language interpreters for performances. We recently spoke with Amanda Welly, a D.C. interpreter, to talk about the service. 

Questions abound about which knife John Wilkes Booth used to stab Major Henry Rathbone after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Read on to see what evidence exists in the curatorial files and what our conclusion is.

Throughout history many Americans have used oratory as a way to drive civic change. Read on to discover 10 change-makers whom you might not know about yet.