Crowd Mourning Abraham Lincoln's Death, Detroit, Michigan, 1865

Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865 plunged Americans into deep mourning. All over the nation, communities joined in public ceremonies honoring the 16th president. Although a national day of mourning was held on April 19, 1865 -- the day of Lincoln's funeral in Washington, D.C -- Detroit city officials decided to hold theirs on April 25 to better prepare for this public ceremony. The day started with a solemn parade from Jefferson Avenue north on Woodward Avenue for two miles to Campus Martius, the center of Detroit. This photograph shows a crowd estimated at thirty thousand gathered for the day's closing events in Campus Martius.