The first person you likely associate with Ford’s Theatre is Abraham Lincoln or John Wilkes Booth. Depending on your level of history nerdiness, you might also know Major Rathbone, Clara Harris, Ned Spangler or John T. Ford. But, one name you probably do not associate with our hallowed theatre is Basil Lockwood. I know I didn’t, until I did some research.

As Membership Manager, Diane Barber gets to see first-hand how Ford's Theatre donors connect with President Lincoln's legacy. She has found that these 10 Lincoln quotes speak to folks from across the United States.

Jake Flack, Associate Director of Museum Education, reflects on how the Civil War affected the economy of his hometown of Washington, D.C. 

Fashion and audience manners have changed quite a bit since the Ford’s Theatre of Lincoln’s time. Discover what’s different.

How do you view the Lincoln assassination? Was it the conclusion to the Civil War or the beginning of Reconstruction? Students today need a deeper understanding of the Lincoln assassination regarding the years of Reconstruction that followed. Read more to find out how teachers can reframe their teaching of the events at Ford's Theatre to connect them to the fight for equality today. 

Three years after launching our Remembering Lincoln digital collection, we share lessons learned and continuing questions about collection-building, building a refined end-product versus citizen history project, defining audiences, challenges of scale, and how this project has refined our storytelling approach.

When writing an essay on Lincoln’s assassination, it can be hard to know where to begin. But Ford’s Theatre has the solution! Fords.org is a great place to find primary sources on the fateful evening of April 14, 1865. 

You may be familiar with costumed interpreters at historic sites. Or perhaps you have seen reenactors at Gettysburg or other Civil War battlefields. But only at Ford’s Theatre can you see history come to life through fully staged theatre productions.

Did you know that Ford's Theatre reopened as a working theatre just three months prior to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Discover what the reaction to King's assassination meant for the immediate neighborhood around Ford's Theatre and D.C. as a whole.

Learn how Ford's is integrating Virtual Reality into our visitor's experience and how you can try it from home or on site!