Here at Ford’s we believe that it’s never too early to learn about the Lincoln assassination. Whether you are looking for a way to introduce Lincoln’s assassination to elementary school students or an interesting novel to make history come to life for your own middle-school child, the Ford’s Education team has readers of all ages and skill-levels covered. 

Most visitors come to Ford’s Theatre to learn more about that one fateful night in 1865. But a school trip to Ford’s should be more than just seeing Booth’s gun and visiting the box where Lincoln was shot. How can you make sure that kids leave Ford’s with a better understanding of the bigger picture?

"They Knew Lincoln" by John E. Washington’s recounts the complex relationship between Lincoln and Washington’s African-American community. Kate Masur, a professor of history at Northwestern University, facilitated the reissue of the book for the first time since the original run in 1942. This edition includes a new introduction by Masur on John E. Washington and the Washington, D.C., he knew. Here, she offers a preview.

February 12, 2018 marks 50 years since Ford’s Theatre reopened and began presenting plays to honor Lincoln’s love of the performing arts. Here are a few shows that help us remember our past.

Arts Education Coordinator at Ford’s Theatre Jennie Berman Eng discusses coming to terms with Thomas Jefferson's complicated legacy and how teachers might address this in the classroom.

On December 19, 2017, visitors to the Ford’s campus heard from people who were witnesses to the Lincoln assassination events of 1865. Visitors found four iPads on music stands around the campus featuring audio of our staff members reading first-person accounts from five people from the time. Read about our second round of ideas testing for our latest prototyping project.

Meet the fictitious and historically based characters found in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play “Jefferson’s Garden.” The Ford’s Theatre production plays to February 8, 2018.

At Ford’s Theatre, we often face an interesting dilemma when presenting plays and musicals that have ties to history. Because Ford’s is inextricably tied to our national history with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, many in expect any aspect of American history portrayed on our stage to be 100 percent truthful to the facts. Patrick Pearson discusses.

Since 2000, many visitors to Ford’s Theatre have stepped back in time with National Park Service volunteer Liz Hogan, who portrays First Lady Mary Lincoln and, sometimes, Mary Lincoln’s confidante Elizabeth Dixon. Hogan seeks to counter some of the many pervasive myths about Lincoln’s First Lady. Learn about how Hogan  prepared for this historical role and how visitors react.

On a semi-cold Tuesday, Ford’s Theatre staff and evaluator Kate Haley Goldman spent the day on the street between the Petersen House and Ford’s Theatre, asking visitors for their opinions of two on-site prototypes that might enhance the visitor’s understanding of the Lincoln assassination and its aftermath. Read on to see what we learned from that testing.