Calendar: May 2015

I hope you were all able to take part in some of the April events that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the escape, and subsequent death of his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Even though most of the big events have passed, there are still some programs and exhibitions going on in the month of May.  May 9th, in particular, has two very exciting events planned. Take a look at the events below and be sure to visit the Calendar section of this site for a full list.

May 1st – 4th:

Lincoln Funeral Train Weekend in Springfield, Illinois

• Those of you in the central Illinois region will definitely want to make plans to visit the state capital.  Springfield is going all out with events and activities recreating the arrival of Lincoln’s Funeral Train.  For more information and a list of the many events planned, click here.

May 4th:

“Lincoln’s Killer on the Run” episode of Time Traveling with Brian Unger debuts on the Travel Channel

• How the States Got Their Shape host, Brian Unger has a new show taking unsuspecting tourists to lesser visited historic sites.  On May 4th, at 10:00 pm EST, a new episode dealing with John Wilkes Booth is set to air.  Unger will take a group into a Maryland pine thicket (my doesn’t that sound familiar…), row across the Potomac, and visit the site of the conspirator’s execution.  For other dates and times of airings, click here.

May 9th:

Tudor Hall, the Booths of Maryland and the Civil War Symposium in Bel Air, Maryland

• The Junius B. Booth Society (JBBS) and the Historical Society of Harford County (HSHC) are holding a one day, one-of-a kind symposium titled Tudor Hall, the Booths of Maryland and the Civil War from 8:00 AM to 4:45 PM at the Bel Air Armory in Bel Air, MD. Tudor Hall, the home of the theatrical Booths of Maryland, a short distance away will be open to the attendees following the symposium for tours till 7 PM.  This is a fundraiser and the proceeds will be split between JBBS and HSHC. All proceeds to JBBS will be used for turning Tudor Hall into a museum. For more information and for directions on how to register for the symposium, click here.

150th Anniversary of the Trial of the Conspirators at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.

• Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. contains Grant Hall, the site of the trial and execution of the Lincoln conspirators.  To mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the trial, Fort McNair will be having a very special event. Historians and authors, including Betty Ownsbey, Barry Cauchon, and John Elliott, will be presenting on the imprisonment, trial, and execution of the Lincoln conspirators.  Since Fort McNair is expecting higher than average visitation on this day, those wishing to participate in the programs need to RSVP for their desired hour of programming.  For more information, including the links of how to register to visit, click here.

May 17th:

“The Loyal Servants of the Booths: Joe and Ann Hall” presented by Jim Chrismer at the Booth family home of Tudor Hall in Bel Air, Maryland

• Harford County Historian Jim Chrismer will present at 2:00 pm about the Booth family servants Joe and Ann Hall.  Ann Hall is buried not far from Tudor Hall. For more information, click here.

May 21st:

“Forensics of the Lincoln Assassination” presented by Douglas H. Boxler at the Lew Wallace Study in Crawfordsville, Indiana

• Speaker Douglas Boxler used a Derringer pistol and a “Spatter Head” that simulates the structure of the human cranium to conduct research on his talk about the “Forensics of Lincoln’s Assassination”. Visit the home of Lew Wallace, a member of the military commission that tried the Lincoln conspirators at 7:00pm to watch his speech.  The Wallace Study also does a wonderful job live tweeting their lectures.  For more information, click here.

May 29th:

“Silent Witnesses” Ends at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

• This day marks the end of special exhibit, “Silent Witnesses“, at Ford’s Theatre.  Make sure to visit Ford’s on or before this date to make sure you see these unique treasures before they go back to their home museums:

Alias “Paine”: A Book Lecture by Betty Ownsbey at the Seward House Museum in Auburn, New York

• Betty Ownsbey, author of Alias “Paine”: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy, will be presenting on her book and the attempted assassination of Secretary of State William Seward at 7:00 pm.  For more information and to RSVP, click here.

May 31st:

“The Loyal Servants of the Booths: Joe and Ann Hall” presented by Jim Chrismer at the Booth family home of Tudor Hall in Bel Air, Maryland

• Deja vu? Jim Chrismer will repeat his May 17th program about the Halls at Tudor Hall. For more information, click here.

Ongoing Events/Exhibits:

Undying Words: Lincoln 1858 – 1865 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, IL
A Fiendish Assassination at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, IL
Remembering Lincoln at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL (ends May 10th)
Now He Belongs to the Ages at the Lincoln Heritage Museum in Lincoln, IL
A Nation in Tears: 150 Years after Lincoln’s Death at the University of Illinois’ Rare Book and Manuscript Library in Champaign-Urbana, IL (ends May 4th)
So Costly a Sacrifice: Lincoln and Loss at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis, IN
Autopsy for a Nation: The Death of Abraham Lincoln at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY
The Attempted Assassination of William Seward at the Seward House in Auburn, NY (ends June 1st)
Shooting Lincoln at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA
His Wound is Mortal: The Final Hours of President Abraham Lincoln at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland
President Lincoln Is Dead: The New York Herald Reports the Assassination at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. (ends May 29th)
The Full Story: Maryland, The Surratts, and the Crime of the Century at the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, MD
Remembering Lincoln a digital archives project by Ford’s Theatre
History on Foot: Detective McDevitt is a great walking tour of D.C. put on by Ford’s Theatre of some of the sites associated with Lincoln’s assassination: