Abraham Lincoln

Mary Surratt's boarding house is a Chinese restaurant, still standing just around the corner from Gallery Place Metro. Today, it's Wok and Roll.

April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theater began with a showing of Our American Cousin, and ended with an assassinated President Lincoln. The Library of Congress has the program from that evening. Pretty incredible to think that people in the audience...

The Library of Congress has a large collection of graphic arts created over the course of two centuries. They depict famous locations and subjects. There are a large number dedicated to capturing the assassination and aftermath of President Lincoln. Below...

This week celebrates the 152nd anniversary of the D.C. Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and came eight months before President Abraham Lincoln wrote and delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. It ultimately freed almost 3,000 slaves in...

This photo was taken on March 4th, 1865 on the day Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second time. A little over a month later, President Lincoln would be assassinated in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth and Andrew Johnson...

We woke up this morning to a great email from a GoDCer. It’s a rather interesting story, so we’d like to share it with the community. Since today is Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday, I would like to share the following DC...

What a handsome co-conspirator, looking like a Gap or Abercrombie model.

Walking through the Navy Yard a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon an incongruous plaque embedded on the side of a building. The building was a modern parking garage, similar to dozens around the city, and unremarkable in every particular....

Abraham Lincoln was sworn in for his second term as president and delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. There are a couple interesting things we picked out of this photo. First, when you click on the photo...

This is the Evening Star, published the day President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Obviously, the main headline focuses on his death and the attempted murder of Secretary William Seward. But this edition of the paper has more to tell. In...

This is incredible. It’s the actual broadside advertising the play being held at Ford’s Theatre on Friday, April 14th, 1865. This was the play Lincoln and his wife chose to attend. Click the image for great details. Source: Library of...

We dug up this powerful image of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession heading down Pennsylvania Avenue on April 19th, 1865. Click on it for better details. Source: Library of Congress

This is the President’s official railroad car in 1865, likely taken around January. Four months later, the car would be used as Lincoln’s funeral car.

Now this is an amazing piece of American history. This is a large campaign banner for Lincoln in 1860. Source: Library of Congress

What a sweet campaign button from 1864! We dug this up on the Library of Congress’ site.

What’s up with this invite? Is Abe trying to tip the balance in the favor of his male advisors? Bizarre … two to one ratio?

You may not know this, but Abraham Lincoln was a bit of a technophile. On June 18th, 1861, “Professor” Thaddeus Lowe ascended to a height of 500 feet above the National Mall, in front of where the National Air and...

What an amazing photograph by Mathew Brady.

The one thing I have against the National Archives is that is takes up so much of my time … I get completely engrossed in the images they post online. Here’s a great one, the letter from Lincoln nominating Seward...

The assassination of President Lincoln is one of the most, if not the most, tragic event in the history of Washington. Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in the evening of April 14th, 1865. A massive hunt for the conspirators...

The city and the nation was about to celebrate Lincoln’s 98th birthday when the Washington Times published a feature on how visitors seemed to have completely forgotten the fallen president. A generation had passed since Abe was gunned down in...

This is a great find. I was digging through old newspapers in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America archives and came across this from the Daily National Republican. It dates back to July 21st, 1864. Related articles Lincoln’s close call with...

This title is worthy of a big #WTF. Posts like this are sadly some of the more popular ones. I don’t know if GoDCers are attracted to the macabre, but it sure seems that way. So here’s another one for “From...

Here is a nice photograph from 1922. You’re looking at the Washington Monument from within the Lincoln Memorial, which has just opened. The memorial has not yet been formally dedicated — a ceremony attended by Lincoln’s son. Thanks Shorpy!

April 10th, 1865 — Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered a day earlier at Appomattox Court House. The Civil War was over and the Union had been preserved. Workmen from the Washington Navy Yard, accompanied...

This is a very famous photo of President Lincoln from February 5th, 1865. The President would be assassinated a short two months later at Ford’s Theatre. I also found a colorized photo of the one taken by Alexander Gardner. Compare...

File this one away in the historic candids section. On May 30th, 1922 and at the advanced age of 78, Robert Todd Lincoln is seen arriving at the dedication of the memorial to his father Abraham Lincoln. While any son...

Buy this book and then read it (I bought the Kindle version). It is an excellent window into life in Washington City in the days after the fall of Fort Sumter. It chronicles life in the District starting April 14th,...