
Online Resources for Home Learning
Looking for activities to do at home? Scroll down to see what Ford’s Theatre has to offer for learners of all ages.
Due to utility work, the intersection of 10th Street and F Street is currently closed and inaccessible to vehicular traffic. The Atlantic Building parking garage can be accessed by turning north on 10th Street from E Street NW. Please use extreme caution when accessing the garage as the block serves 2-way traffic during this closure. Please allow for extra time to arrive at the museum and theatre.
Travel back in time to investigate the Lincoln assassination – via live, interactive video-conference. Connect with our expert educators and scholars or a National Park Service Ranger to ask questions about Lincoln’s life and legacy. Register for a live event or book a session for your class.
Activities for students to complete on their own without requiring the assistance of a teacher or adult at home.
Use primary source quotes and artifacts from the Lincoln’s Assassination page on the Ford’s Theatre website to explore and analyze the assassination. 6th – 8th grade.
Uses primary source images and documents to examine ethics of displaying the weapon John Wilkes Booth used to kill President Abraham Lincoln. 6th – 12th grade.
Use primary source documents to examine how people around the United States responded to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. 6th – 8th grade.
Explore two events during the Civil War in Washington to understand different perspectives on some of the most important questions of the day.
Use first-person, primary-source documents to understand how differently people around the country responded to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Looking to learn or teach about the Lincoln assassination? You can use these virtual tours, webpages, primary source sets, and online exhibits.
Visit Ford’s From Home
Online Resource
Come on a virtual tour of Ford’s Theatre. See inside the Presidential box and learn more about the events of April 14, 1865. Investigate the place where Booth murdered Lincoln. What clues does the scene yield to the plotting of the assassination?
Learn the Story
What happened in Ford’s Theatre the night of April 14, 1865? Use recollections from eyewitnesses, pieces of physical evidence, and photos from the scene to better understand how the Lincoln assassination unfolded.
Learn the Story
After Lincoln was shot, soldiers carried him across the street into the Petersen House. What happened there? Use recollections from eyewitnesses, pieces of physical evidence, and images from the scene to better understand the overnight vigil when Lincoln was dying.
Learn the Story
Why did John Wilkes Booth assassinate President Abraham Lincoln? How did investigators learn what happened and why? Using witness accounts and physical evidence, conduct your own investigation.
Reactions to the Assassination
Primary Sources
How did people around the U.S. and around the world react to Lincoln’s assassination? Browse or search our award-winning website to find newspapers, letters, images and more to learn about how a divided nation responded to tragedy. You can also view existing teaching modules, create your own, or explore curated collections.
Google Arts & Culture
Learn the Story
Where did Lincoln’s funeral train go? Who were the conspirators? What happened to Ford’s Theatre? Explore these questions and more in a set of immersive online exhibitions.
Google Arts & Culture
Artifacts
Want to explore artifacts from Ford’s Theatre, including evidence from the Lincoln assassination? On our Google Arts & Culture site, you can examine high-resolution images of over 100 objects and images.
Learn the Story
What happened when people learned of Lincoln’s assassination? Use primary sources from the time, and after, to learn how people reacted to Lincoln’s assassination.
Learn the Story
Where did Lincoln’s funeral train go? Follow its route and learn from primary sources what happened in each of the cities it visited.
Learn the Story
What was it like to await word of Lincoln’s fate? See what witnesses experienced and explore the only painting made by a first-hand witness to the scene outside the House Where Lincoln Died.
Learn the Story
Where did John Wilkes Booth and David Herold flee after Booth shot Lincoln? Follow their escape path and learn what witnesses saw as one of the largest manhunts in U.S. history unfolded.
Learn the Story
What happened to those involved in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy? Examine what witnesses said for and against each person, explore images from the trial, and learn the verdicts and sentences.
Looking for activities to engage students in primary sources while contributing to a nationwide archive? We are looking for learners of all ages to transcribe primary sources on our Remembering Lincoln website, and contribute more sources.
We’ve put together discussion questions on our history blog posts. Read the posts and then answer the accompanying questions.
Looking for classroom activities that parents or teachers can adapt for students working at home?
Ready-to-use history lesson plans focused on how to teach President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the Civil War.
Ready-to-use lesson plans to bring public speaking and performance into grades 5-8 through a framework that enlivens history and English Language Arts learning.
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