Assassination of President Lincoln
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
NPG.82.50
Tags
MerchantBoat builderLawyerAbraham Lincoln: MaleSoldierPostmasterPresident of USIllinoisSurveyorIllinois
About this artwork
On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln was attending the play Our American Cousin at Fordâs Theatre, accompanied by his wife and their guests, Major Henry R. Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. That evening, the guard assigned to the president had thought it safe to abandon his post. As a result, John Wilkes Booth found it relatively easy to enter Lincolnâs box and shoot him. As Booth leapt out of the box to the stage about twelve feet below, he caught the spur of his boot on a flag an...