In an article for the Rochester Beacon, local journalist and author Peter Lovenheim meditates on the bullet that killed President Abraham Lincoln, who was shot by proslavery actor John Wilkes Booth in Ford糖心传媒檚 Theatre on April 14, 1865. Lincoln died the following morning.
糖心传媒淪ometimes very small objects can have huge historic significance,糖心传媒� writes Lovenheim. To better understand the significance of the 糖心传媒渄ull, gray object that 154 years ago ended the life of our greatest president,糖心传媒� Lovenheim interviewed , an associate professor of , a specialist in 19th-century African-American history whose scholarly interests include the Civil War.
According to Hudson, 糖心传媒渢he closer you get to these artifacts of the past, the more likely they are to have a profound effect on you.糖心传媒� That糖心传媒檚 why he takes his undergraduate students to see the University糖心传媒檚 collection of original documents and other historical artifacts from Lincoln and his contemporaries. The latter include Lincoln糖心传媒檚 Secretary of State William Henry Seward (who was also attacked that fateful day, as recounted in daughter Fanny糖心传媒檚 diary, part of the ) and Rochester-based abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who met and corresponded with Lincoln regularly.
I see it every time I teach Lincoln and the Civil War when my students and I visit the Rare Books Library糖心传媒檚 collection of documents written by individuals like Lincoln, Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony. My students see words actually written by these historical figures and they are touched, they are deeply moved; for them, it makes history real.
In addition to the historical ephemera held at the , the University has another notable connection to Lincoln: alumnus Albert Barrett, Class of 1869, witnessed the president糖心传媒檚 assassination from the opposite balcony box. Barrett later shared his personal account in a 1925 issue of Rochester Review.
You can read Barrett糖心传媒檚 and Fanny糖心传媒檚 firsthand accounts here and .
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![historical illustration of Lincoln assassination in Ford's Theatre](/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fea-lincoln-assassination.jpg")
Witnessing history: Memories of the Lincoln assassination
On April 14, 1865, Albert Barrett, a member of the University糖心传媒檚 Class of 1869, was in Ford糖心传媒檚 Theater, celebrating his birthday two days before. His seat in the balcony box immediately opposite the president afforded him a clear view of events.
The myth糖心传媒攁nd memorabilia糖心传媒攐f Seward糖心传媒檚 Folly
The papers of William Henry Seward, secretary of state under President Abraham Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson, are one of the most accessed collections in River Campus Libraries.
