Shortly after President Abraham Lincoln was carried to the Petersen boardinghouse on the night of April 14, 1865, rumors spread about a separate attack on Secretary of State William H. Seward. People began to bombard the Metropolitan Police Station with personal testimonies, spouting wild speculation as to the meaning. James McDevitt was on the case.
Assassination Eyewitness: Carl Bersch’s Eyewitness Oil Painting Returns to the Scene
While many depictions of the events surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination exist, most are artist renditions, created well after the fact. As of April 14, 2016, visitors to the Ford’s Theatre campus may now see the only known artistic representation of the Lincoln assassination created by an eyewitness. We are honored to commemorate the 151st…
D.C.-Area Students Step into Tennessee Williams’s Shoes
Throughout The Glass Menagerie, Tom breaks the "fourth wall" and addresses the audience directly. We wondered what might happen if the other characters had monologues like Tom does, and decided to put this challenge to area students...
Broadway’s Ben Crawford: Performing in “110 in the Shade”
Now a month into its spring run at Ford’s Theatre, the musical 110 in the Shade is wowing audiences and critics alike with its big heart, marvelously sung performances and dynamic direction and choreography. We recently connected with actor Ben Crawford, who plays the animated rainmaker Starbuck, to hear his thoughts on the production and…
Instagram Highlights: “110 in the Shade” from Rehearsal to First Performances
From first rehearsal through the show’s opening, the cast of 110 in the Shade have powered through to create a musical in about five weeks! We’ve collected some of our favorite photos and video that the cast and fans have shared on Instagram. We’d love to see your pics, too—please tag them #Fords110! Don’t let…
Teaching Primary Sources with Remembering Lincoln
As a student, I became enthralled with history after reading the diary of a girl who lived through the Civil War. I do not remember her name, but it was fascinating for me to be able to relate to someone my own age that was living at a different time. Primary sources are a way…
Three Ways To Virtually Visit Ford’s Theatre on Google Arts and Culture
As a new graduate fellow at Ford’s Theatre, I am beginning to get a handle on the lingo of the office. Google Arts and Culture gets us excited about the digital future of Ford’s Theatre. You may wonder, “Why? What is Google Arts and Culture and how can it help me—as a teacher, student, Lincoln…
My Summers at Ford’s Theatre: Bringing Legacies to Life
It’s the little things. Reflecting on two summers spent in intensive, content-rich professional development through Ford’s Theatre—as a Civil War Washington Teacher Fellow in 2014 and as a Seat of War and Peace scholar in 2015—the biggest impact on my teaching has been getting to know the ordinary: the everyday objects, spaces and moments that…
A Stitch in Time: Historic Quilt Features Who’s Who of Civil War
Constructed by the U.S. Sanitary Commission volunteers during the Civil War, the remarkable quilt below was auctioned at the Philadelphia Sanitary Fair in 1864 to raise funds that were used to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers throughout the Union Army. Over the course of the war, at Sanitary Fairs throughout the North, thousands of U.S.…
Interview with Kevin McAllister: Sheriff File in “110 in the Shade”
Time and again, Kevin McAllister has wowed Ford’s Theatre audiences with his roles in the musicals Parade, Violet, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Here Kevin spoke with us about the challenges and joys of his newest role in our current musical, 110 in the…
