"Death of President Lincoln at Washington D.C. April 15, 1865, The Nation's Martyr"
Artifact Overview
This lithograph print shows a representation of the tragic event of Abraham Lincoln's death. It occurred in a room of the Petersen House, a boardinghouse across the street from Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., where the president had been shot. The group of people shown gathered at the president's deathbed includes Mrs. Lincoln, their two sons, the vice president, cabinet members, the Supreme Court chief justice, a senator, and the surgeon general. Not all of these people were actually in the room the morning Lincoln died. But sentiment about Lincoln sold well. So, the people were changed to appeal to popular taste.
A key printed below the image identified each person depicted at Lincoln's deathbed. Left to right: Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury (replaced Salmon P. Chase in 1864); James Speed, Attorney General; Andrew Johnson, Vice President; Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts; Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War; Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy; Robert Lincoln, oldest son; Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General; Mary Todd Lincoln, wife; Thomas (Tad) Lincoln, youngest son; Clara Harris (she and her fiancé, Henry Rathbone, had shared the President's box with the Lincolns at Ford's Theater the previous night).
Artifact Details
Artifact
Date Made
Subject Date
Creators
Place of Creation
Collection Title
Location
Object ID
00.3.11283
Credit
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Lithography
Printing (Process)
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 10.25 in
Width: 14.375 in
Inscriptions
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