Good Friday, April 14, 1865. President Abraham Lincoln was shot while attending a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre with his wife and two guests. Lincoln’s assassin was actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. This is a Matthew Brady photograph of the presidential box at Ford’s Theater, made two days after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. At center of the box is the picture of George Washington which caught one of the spurs of John Wilkes Booth as he jumped to the stage after shooting Lincoln in the back of the head.
Lincoln Assassination is part of a larger plot to to create chaos and overthrow the Federal government by killing the Secretary of State William H. Seward and Vice President Andrew Johnson. Although Booth succeeded in killing Lincoln, the larger plot failed. Seward was attacked, but recovered from his wounds, and Johnson’s would-be assassin fled Washington, D.C. upon losing his nerve.
Iconic Photos 
Thanks for the photo, it is a reminder of the tragic events of Lincoln’s presidency, and the overall good the sacrifices of the Civil War eventually brought to the nation.
It was the bunting to the right of the portrait of Washington that Booth caught his spur on. One can see that it is pulled out of place when compared to the bunting on the other side of the peortrait.
they actually redid the booth because the flags and bunting were stolen the night of the assasination
Not to say it ain’t true but that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of it. Gotta do some research now.
Found this. By this account, not stolen but definitely removed. So…is the flag in Brady’s photo – taken “two days later” – a replacement draped to resemble the way the original looked after the event?
http://thecivil-war.com/the-lincoln-flag/
[…] destroying all traces of the infamous theatre; all that was left standing was the front facade. The photos that Matthew Brady took of the crime scene in 1865 were invaluable as a reference for those working to restore […]