A R TIFAC T S OF THE
L IN COL N A S S A S S IN ATION
March 23-May 25, 2015
From the Scholar:
“Clanging bells, black bunting
and crepe and fragrant flowers—
these were the sounds, symbols
and scents of the spring of
1865. … It was on Tenth Street,
in the nation’s capital, that the
great tragedy unfolded at Ford’s
Theatre and the Petersen House.
And it was this tragedy that
transformed Abraham Lincoln
from a mortal man into America’s
secular saint. [Silent Witnesses]
brings together a selection of
major artifacts from that ‘moody,
tearful’ and terrible night.
They bring history alive in a
vivid way that words alone
cannot achieve.”
–James Swanson, Historian
Photo of Lincoln’s coat by Carol M. Highsmith. Photo of Lincoln’s top hat courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
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