Today, the Surratt Society released details about its upcoming annual conference, which is taking place this Saturday, April 5, 2025. The conference will run from 2:00 to 4:30 pm Eastern time.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Surratt Conferences were held in person in Prince George’s County, Maryland, with a slate of about six or so speakers and a dinner speaker. During and since the pandemic, however, the conference has operated in a virtual setting with two speakers over the course of an afternoon. These virtual conferences have been completely free to attend for anyone with a Zoom-compatible device. In prior years, you had to pre-register for the conference in order to be sent the Zoom link. This year, however, no pre-registration is necessary. I have copied over the link and Zoom instructions provided by the Society at the end of this post.
This year’s speakers are Dr. Paul Severance and Francis Gorman.
A professor of military science at the National Defense University, Dr. Paul Severance will speak about the 1865 trial of the Lincoln conspirators. For many years, Dr. Severance has been a devoted educator, giving tours of the restored courtroom of the conspirators at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington. I worked with Dr. Severance many times when I lived in the area and gave tours with him in the courtroom. I am looking forward to hearing his presentation on the trial.
A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Law Center, Francis “Frank” J. Gorman, practiced law as a trial and intellectual property attorney. A founder of the Gorman & Williams law firm, Frank was selected to represent Green Mount Cemetery in opposition to the efforts to exhume the body of John Wilkes Booth in 1995. With a team of history experts, including Michael Kauffman, Dr. Terry Alford, Steven Miller, Dr. James O. Hall, and Dr. William Hanchett, Frank successfully disproved the John Wilkes Booth escaped conspiracy theories in a court of law, and prevented the needless exhumation. Thirty years after that court case, Frank has written a book about his experiences and new discoveries that have further disproved the Finis Bates-backed conspiracy theories. At the conference, Frank will talk about his new book, Confronting Bad History: How a Lost Cause and Fraudulent Book Caused the John Wilkes Booth Exhumation Trial. I had the chance to read Frank’s manuscript before it was published, and I could not put it down. Be prepared for Frank to make an appearance here on LincolnConspirators.com in the near future to talk more about it.
Here is the Zoom meeting information provided on the Surratt Society’s Events page:
“The link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81547245578?pwd=oiHBmbayEaQEmwbit7cPYVfe4DzAZr.1
Meeting ID: 815 4724 5578
Passcode: 416937″
I am very excited about this lineup of speakers. I hope to (virtually) see you all on Saturday, April 5, from 2:00 – 4:30 pm!
LincolnConspirators.com 
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