Ford's Theatre Offers Round-the-Clock Lincoln Events

Ford’s Theatre will commemorate the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s assassination with a myriad of events and performances.

President Barack Obama will proclaim April 15 a Day of Remembrance for President Lincoln, but the events at Ford’s aren’t limited to that day -- they're happening around-the-clock April 14 through 15, and some extend into May.

Fans of history and Lincoln, get ready: Events include tours of Ford’s Theatre, panels packed with scholars and historians, and a candlelight vigil featuring historians dressed in Civil War attire, to name a few.

The Lincoln Tribute
When: April 14-15
Where: Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St. NW)

Visitors can take self-guided or guide-led tours of Ford’s Theatre Museum, watch the one-act play "One Destiny,", visit the Peterson House, attend panels on the life and death of Lincoln, and embark on History on Foot walking tours led by costumed actors. Living historians will fill the streets surrounding the theater, pulling visitors into 1865 with first-person accounts of the Civil War and the theater on the night of the assassination. Ford’s will also allow visitors to visit the building at night as historians recreate the all-night vigil for Lincoln. The fateful morning of April 15 will  begin with a wreath-laying ceremony at 7:22 a.m., marking the moment of Lincoln’s death. The ceremony will take place to the tune of church bells, ringing just as they did in 1865.

Now He Belongs to the Ages: A Lincoln Commemoration
When: April 14 at 9 p.m.
Where: Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St. NW), as well as live streaming online and a showing at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (8th and F streets NW) in the Kogod Courtyard

This performance will include readings of Lincoln’s stories, excerpts from his favorite operas, Civil War-era music and more. The music and words are meant to remind us that Lincoln was not only a president, but a man who treasured his family, friends and country.

Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination
When: Through May 29
Where: Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership (514 10th St. NW)

This special exhibition will showcase artifacts like the contents of Lincoln’s pockets, his top hat and coat from the night of his assassination, a playbill from "Our American Cousin," and more.

Smithsonian Channel Broadcast: Lincoln’s Last Day
When: April 13 at 8 p.m.; April 14 at 10 p.m.
The Smithsonian Channel will air a one-hour special counting down the last 24 hours of Lincoln’s life. The program will place viewers into that final day as it explores the artifacts that survived and unravels each player in the deadly plot.

Freedom’s Song: "Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War" (musical)
When: Through May 20
Where: Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St. NW)
This musical combines the inspirational words of Lincoln with a series of vignettes from divided Americans from the Civil War. The music, speeches and costumes create a vision of a bloodied, tattered nation that finally unified once again.

Additional programming includes Remembering Lincoln, which exhibits historical items and remembrances from reactions to Lincoln's death online, and the Ford's Theatre Virtual Field Trip Live Q and A, which provides a virtual tour of the Ford's Theatre campus.

Tickets are required for all events inside the theater. Street events do not require tickets.