Here is a link to Ford's Theatre Museum, which was converted into a theatre from a Baptist Church in 1861. It lay in a seamy side of town, known as Hooker's Division, and nearby was Murder Bay, which no doubt added to Stanton's concerns. Seems John T. Ford was capitalizing on the swelling population of Washington during the war, which rose from 60,000 to over 200,000 persons. Lincoln first visited Ford's in May, 1862, which as Goodwin noted, provided him a welcom reprieve from the horrors of war.
It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
I've walked by Ford's Theatre many times, but have never gone in.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in DC next week -- maybe I'll try to visit it this time since I'll be staying in the neighborhood. Last time I was there, I also noticed a Lincoln bicentennial walking tour (where Lincoln walked). It's the worst time of year to be in DC, but if by chance the weather cooperates, maybe I can take in a few of the Lincoln sites.
I just noticed on their website that it's been renovated and reopens on July 15th.
ReplyDeletehttp://fords.org/node/320
Thanks, Marti. I'll be there then. I'll see if I can get in (there's always been a long line when I've walked past there, but maybe I can visit early or late since I'll be staying in the neighborhood).
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