A few interesting Lincoln assassination related events have popped up on the radar over the next couple of months that I wanted to share. I wish I lived near some of these so that I could attend them.
August 25, 2023
Boston, Massachusetts
Lincoln and Booth: Live Music Played to Film
“The West End Museum presents an unforgettable theatrical experience when members of the New England Film Orchestra combine the magic of film with the power of music as they perform live music in-sync to two films highlighting the lives of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.
Odie Henderson, Boston Globe Film Critic and author of ‘Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema’ (out in January 2024), will join us to provide context for the films.
John Wilke’s Booth was in Boston in April of 1865, eight days before the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. What the well-known actor was doing during those last fateful days is not altogether clear, but during that time was purportedly seen practicing his aim at a local shooting gallery.
The first firm is an early silent short by Thomas Edison from 1915 entitled “The Life of Abraham Lincoln,” which spans the famous president’s life from his marriage to his assassination by Booth. The second, “The Man in the Barn,” is a speculative docu-drama from 1937 that asks if John Wilkes Booth didn’t die by gunshot while trapped in a burning barn just days after Lincoln’s assassination, but rather escaped to live another 38 years.
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind “surround-sound” movie event at Boston’s landmark Hub Hall, adjacent to TD Garden and North Station and boasting 18 diverse food and drink options for a before or after-movie snack.”
Cost: $15
Event page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lincoln-and-booth-live-music-played-to-film
September 23, 2023
Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian Booth Escape Route Bus Tour [led by American Brutus author, Michael Kauffman!]
“Fleeing Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth traveled through Maryland into Virginia, where, a few days later, he was found and fatally shot. Historian Michael Kauffman retraces Booth’s escape route and reveals the personalities and intrigues surrounding the Lincoln assassination.
Stops include Ford’s Theatre; the house near Clinton, Maryland, belonging to Mary Surratt, who was hanged for her involvement in the plot; and the house of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who set Booth’s broken leg.
Enjoy a seafood lunch at Captain Billy’s Crab House at Popes Creek Landing, near where Booth and co-conspirator David Edgar Herold crossed the Potomac. In Virginia, visit sites where they contacted local sympathizers and where Booth was captured and died.”
Cost: $170 for members, $220 for non members
Event page: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/booths-escape-route
October 15, 2023
Albany, New York
The Rathbones of Albany The Tragic Story of John Wilkes Booth’s Last Victim
Presented by the Friends of Albany Rural Cemetery
“Clara Harris and Henry Reed Rathbone were from prominent families in Albany. Each had wealth, education, and a bright future. Mark will reveal the sad, gruesome, yet true story of two local people who witnessed the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln first-hand, and the Cottage in Loudonville where ghostly apparitions have been reported.”
[Note from Dave: While Henry and Clara Rathbone are not buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery, their parents are. In addition, this cemetery is the final resting place of Absalom Bainbridge, one of the Confederate soldiers who met up with John Wilkes Booth and David Herold at Port Conway on April 24, 1865. Bainbridge assisted his cousin Mortimer Ruggles and a third Confederate, Willie Jett, in transporting Booth to the Garrett farm. Herold went with Bainbridge to spend the night at the home of Mrs. Clarke outside of Bowling Green. On the morning of April 25th, Bainbridge and Ruggles brought Herold back to the Garretts where they dropped him off. After seeing the Union soldiers crossing the ferry between Port Conway and Port Royal, Bainbridge and Ruggles raced back to alert Booth and Herold before fleeing themselves. If you attend this event, be sure to hunt down Bainbridge’s grave (and send me a photo of it). President Chester Arthur is buried here, too.]
Cost: Tickets don’t go on sale until September 24th
Event page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-rathbones-of-albany-the-tragic-story-of-john-wilkes-booths-last-victim
October 21, 2023
Bel Air, Maryland
The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits & The Forgotten Women of the Lincoln Assassination
“The Junius B. Booth Society (JBBS) and the Historical Society of Harford County, Inc. (HSHC) are holding an intriguing, one-of-a kind fundraising event titled The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits & The Forgotten Women of the Lincoln Assassination featuring author/historians Terry Alford and Kathryn Canavan on Saturday, October 21 at the Historical Society of Harford County. This is a fundraiser and the proceeds will be split between JBBS and HSHC. All proceeds to JBBS will be used for the Tudor Hall museum. Seating is limited to 95 people, so reserve your seats now. Drinks and snacks will be provided. Following the closing remarks, the first floor of Tudor Hall, the childhood home of John Wilkes Booth will be open to attendees till 5:30 PM.
Terry Alford will present The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits. Terry’s latest book, In the Houses of Their Dead, is the first book of the many thousands written about Lincoln to focus on the president’s fascination with Spiritualism (very popular in the Civil War era). Terry will demonstrate how it linked Lincoln, uncannily, to the man who would kill him. Abraham Lincoln is usually seen as a rational, empirically-minded man, yet as acclaimed scholar and biographer Terry Alford reveals, he was also deeply superstitious and drawn to the irrational. Like millions of other Americans, including the Booths, Lincoln and his wife, Mary, suffered repeated personal tragedies, and turned for solace to Spiritualism, a new practice sweeping the nation that held that the dead were nearby and could be contacted by the living. Remarkably, the Lincolns and the Booths even used the same mediums, including Charles Colchester, a specialist in “blood writing” whom Mary first brought to her husband, and who warned the president after listening to the ravings of another of his clients, John Wilkes Booth.
Kathryn Canavan is an independent researcher and the author of Lincoln’s Final Hours: Conspiracy, Terror, and the Assassination of America’s Greatest President. Kathryn will present The Forgotten Women of the Lincoln Assassination digging deep and uncovering surprising secrets and stories about some of the fascinating women connected to Lincoln’s assassination.”
Cost: $30
Event page: https://www.harfordhistory.org/event/the-booths-of-bel-air/
LincolnConspirators.com 
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