>> yeah -- >> she's our official -- >> so as you can see, this is the box that holds the greatcoat. and we are just about ready to put it in its special display case. we have a special storage area that we keep the greatcoat for half the year. and we have it on display in february through the summer. so we put it up right around the time of lincoln's birthday which is this saturday, the 12th. then we have it up during our busiest season, the spring season. that's also the time of april when the assassination anniversary comes around, the

cherry blossom festival. then it stays through the summer. stays just about six months and then we put it back into protective storage. >> when the greatcoat of abraham lincoln is not on exhibit, it's housed here. the coat is fragile so it only goes on exhibit for a stretch of time. six month on, exhibit -- six month off exhibit so it can rest. resting place for the coat when it's relaxing is out here at the national park service museum resource center. we have a special box designed for the coat so it can be in rest here, so the fabrics can relax and the coat can be preserved longer. much of the ford's theater collection comes from a private collector. there's a variety associated with him and his collecting of objects associated with the assassination of lincoln. this particular object right

here, this is a violin that was purported to have been played on the evening of the assassination at ford's theater during the play "our american cousin." in a sealed case and it actually has a humidifier control in the case itself. so it's an environment within the environment. even though the facility itself has constant environmental controls, this is an environment within the environment. >> i see one that says presidential box flags, the funeral train. you don't necessarily have to open. these are all from that one person's collection. >> right. we store all of our material in what are called asid-free boxes. we purchase them from a company in fredericksburg virginia. you take off the box lid. inside you'll see an inventory of the objects in this box and you'll see that the artifacts

have been individually wrapped and -- in a very stable material. the white is a tissue paper. and we have a plastic bubble type wrap to preserve and protect the object. this is the acronym for ford's theater and this is the catalogue number. so a researcher if they were looking for a particular type of object we could search through the catalogue number or object name in the data base. these sets of tiers are associated with ford's theater. the vast majority of the material is on exhibit in the ford's theater in the basement. we have a large exhibit hall there. we also have a number of loans out right now. we have a loan in saint petersburg in russia of material from the ford's theater associated with a czar who --

the linkage is it's the czar that freed the people roughly the same time as lincoln freed the slaves. so the russians wanted to create an exhibit that linked lincoln to their czar. >> so the greatcoat itself is in this larger box. however, the condition of the coat is in right now, the left sleeve is detached from it. and so the smaller box holds that sleeve. soon after the assassination, you had relic hunters and souvenir hunters who immediately wanted pieces of it. people immediately were trying to cut off tiny pieces of its. its owner was cutting off pieces himself and giving it to people. so when the park service received it, it was already in unfortunately very very

delicate condition. so we've found this approach helps so that we can preserve it. that's our priority preserve it for the present and future generations. at the same time we do want to make sure people actually get to see it and enjoy it. by having it up during the spring, we've made sure the maximum number of people can do that. >> we're checking for particulates and removing them before we install the case. that's what we're working on right now. >> what do you mean by particulates? >> dust. >> so what we see there is our hvac system. this is what helps maintain property humid temperature levels. so this is self-contained in the display unit itself. our first step is to remove the replica items. you can see that when the original greatcoat is not in the

case, we do have a replica coat, replica boots, replica top hat. and we do not have the original boots or the original hat. what we were -- what we are putting in there today is the greatcoat itself. that is the most important item. here you can see we are preparing the case. >> kimberly? >> yes, ma'am. >> take one of these and go along the edges here. >> we are making sure that the case has no particulates.

>> i think that's how we've -- we've always done it that way. >> where does that guy go? >> that goes in first and then this mount attaches to it. >> okay. >> all right. >> now you can see we are placing the mount inside of the display case. it is a specially built mount. and considering its condition with the detached shoulder. now see we are removing the lid to the specially made box. there is protective tissue paper lining.

and we are removing that tissue paper. and revealing the famous greatcoat. as you can see the left arm is deattach detached from the coat. it is in a separate box. if you look closely, there are some small visible bloodstains from the night that lincoln was assassinated in this very theater on april 14th 1865. it is a wool greatcoat. it's custom made by the brooks brothers for lincoln's second naug inaugural. silk lining. very special coat. lincoln loved this coat very

much. wore it various special occasions, including his night out to the theater. >> i think we're going to need you. >> as you can see, we are treat treating this coat very very delicately. it is in very delicate condition. >> yep. >> thank you. >> okay. flip around. >> it's going to go this way. >> lift this up to you. >> and the collar goes around this guy? >> yeah. >> now you can see we are

placing the greatcoat on the special mount. >> how does this guy work on the back here? >> i think it needs -- >> that's messed up. >> yeah. because this -- >> does this collar go around this cushion? >> yeah, i'm pretty sure. >> that was draped -- >> like this. >> you've got the inside kind of folded.

>> can you get the shoulder in there? and then scoot it. >> yeah. >> yeah, yeah. >> is that all right? >> sure about this guy right here? >> i think we can pad the shoulder and then adjust the collar. >> yeah. >> that shoulder is -- it's weak but it's still heavier than the other side so it's -- >> there we go. >> does that feel better up there? >> is there some way that we -- >> so this needs to go over a little bit? >> and then maybe this goes down. >> is that first pin, is that -- >> yeah. >> is it -- how does it feel?

>> i'm just concerned if i move that down, you're really going to pull it back. do you want to try it quickly? >> try to unhook this. >> i think it looks good. >> not worry about this? >> it looks all right. >> i think it's laying how it's supposed to. >> we're not going to worry about this? >> i'm not going to worry about it. >> you can also flatten that middle piece right there. >> there we go. >> more tissue? >> i'd feel a little better. >> can you see the tissue from any angle? >> no. >> looks good. >> does it look all right?

>> now you can see we are uncovering the second box. this is the one that has the detached left sleeve. detached as a result of the many relic hunters from the late 1800s. the sleeve is on it own mount, it is being placed separately in the display next to the greatcoat that it was once attached to. this is the way the park service received the sleeve and the coat

in 1968. there's this silk stitching. this was custom made for lincoln. it was the stitching of an eagle. inside the eagle's mouth there's a banner that says, "one country, one destiny," which is the infamous motto that guided our country through four years of war. and lincoln had that motto with him on his last night at ford's theater. in the past century as lincoln's legacy has grown, as we've come to appreciate who this man was, this coat took on a very special

symbolism. part of that being the one country, one destiny logo. this is the logo lincoln lived with for four years guided our country through war and had it with him on the night that he was shot here. and for that many many reasons it is a very very special coat. that's why we have taken every single prekaux that we preserve it for present and future generations. >> do you see any fingerprints or we good? >> i'm not seeing any on this side. >> yeah, well i think we're -- we're actually going to have to -- >> lock it first. >> okay.

>> so we get a shot here just a happy shot. okay. come on. >> turn, turn. >> cooperate a little bit here. there we go. [ laughter ] >> can you get in? >> everybody say lincoln! >> lincoln! >> very good. [ cheers and applause ] >> that was a nice idea. >> so when visitors first enter

our site they walk in through those doors and the display case that we just put the original greatcoat in is the first thing that they see. there is a wall panel describing it and they do have to go around. it is protected against the light. so and then once they get their tickets, they go down this ramp and they go into either the museum or the theater itself. so we are heading downstairs to where most visitors start their visit and their journey through lincoln's presidency. one of the first things they see is this replica life mask which we do encourage them to touch. this is a very interesting life mask. it was made in 1860 so just months before he was to start his first term as the 16th

president of the united states. and so we see a much younger, fresher-looking lincoln. now we are entering. it is in the basement of the theater itself. it does not just focus on lincoln's last day and last night. we do seek to make sure that visitors know who lincoln was as a man, as a human. and so it goes through the four years of his presidency, of his time in the white house, and with the theater itself. we are standing next to one of the most important glass artifact cases. this is the case that has the rest of the clothing that lincoln was wearing the night that he was here. there is a suit jacket which

would have gone underneath the greatcoat, the vest, pants trousers, and boots, and a tie as well. these are on display year round. they are not in as delicate condition as the greatcoat which can only be on display a few months out of the year. fortunately, relic hunters did not seem to want small pieces of the rest of the suit as much as they did a greatcoat. that's why the suit is in much better condition and because of that, we can have it on display more than we can the greatcoat. we can also see there is one little spot of blood on the knees of the trousers because when -- after lincoln was shot, his body did slump forward and

so that is why there would be some blood there. that pillow is one of several pillows in the peterson house where lincoln died nine hours after being shot here. he was brought to the house and he died there at 7:22 a.m. the next morning. and there were a few pillows underneath his head. this is one of them. we do have others. not all of them are in such good condition. and so we have it here. people can see some of those bloodstains. lincoln came to the theater that night in a very celebratory mood. as we know, general lee had surrendered to general grant that week. one of the most important military victories in the war. the entire city was celebrating and lincoln also was celebrating with very important victory. and so he came here to ford's

theater to see the performance of "our american cousin." loved the theater. had been here about 12 times in the previous year. so we are standing in the theater itself where lincoln was shot the night that he was here on april 14th 1865. behind me is the box itself, the presidential box decorated specifically for lincoln's visit that night with the flags the original portrait of george washington. and lincoln got here around 8:30 for the play. the play had already begun about 30 minutes before. we know that lincoln was a very humble, modest man. and so he really just wanted to kind of sneak in here. he wanted to go completely understand noticed and go in, sit down, watch the play. unfortunately for him the

moment that he arrived, there was a famous actress on stage, ms. laura keene. she noticed him sneaking by. she stopped the play. she instructed the orchestra to play "hail to the chief." even in this theater between 1,700 and 2,500 people all stood up and gave the president a standing ovation. people were cheering, they were very very excited and happy to see their president who had just helped them win this big victory in the civil war. and then he would finally go in, sit down and enjoy the rest of the play until of course the tragic hoemt trajgic moment that he was shot about two hours after he came in. all the clothing items went with lincoln to the peterson house

where he was brought to live out his final hours. and after lincoln was taken from the house, his body was removed back to the white house. those items stayed there, but then they were returned to mrs. lincoln. mrs. lincoln is then the one who gave that greatcoat to dunn who was a favorite door keeper a kind of usher. he's the one who kept it for many years. he kept it in his family for over two generations. he had many offers to have that coat bought from him including a very generous offer from the pay famous p.t. bar numb. he refused all those offers.

ford's theater national historic site has been run through a very special public-private partnership. the private is ford's theater society. and that's been since 1968 that we've run this site together. we run it both as a national historic site where we have thousands of visitors come in and we interpret the events that happened here. at the same time, this is still an active working theater. so in that way, we get to preserve lincoln's memory and it is a living memorial that pays tribute to his love of the performing arts. and so that's the way the theater still is today and we are very proud of that partnership. so we are about to open boxes of two items that are going to be in our center for education and learning that is going to be

opened up in february 2012 across the street from the theater. these are two items in our collection that are not in the other place. we are going to open a tassel that was part of what surrounded lincoln's casket when he was on public viewing in the days after the assassination. we keep these in protective storage in the resources center. and then also we have the tools used to seal the casket 13 days after lincoln's body left washington d.c. and arrived in springfield, illinois, where he would finally be buried on may 4th 1865. these are the items used to seal the casket. on may 4th, 1865 original from

19th century created by s.s. elder, the person who helped seal the casket. here we see a state officer's pass that he needed to get access to the casket itself. and then the tools were used to some solder the casket shut. you can see the tools the iron solder tools with wooden handles. the tools are in a tin frame case that s.s. elder created so that he could display it. likely, he was very proud of his work. this would have been a very important task for him to seal that famous casket shut. the peterson house is a part of our site. it is currently under renovation and will not be open until late

spring because next door to it we are currently constructing a center for education and leadership that will be opened in february of 2012 that will continue some of the exhibits and help the public learn more about president lincoln not just his assassination and his death here but also his life, which is also very important for us to understand who abraham lincoln was as a person. for the 150th commemoration of lincoln's assassination in april, ford's theater will display the brooks brothers greatcoat along with other artifacts in the assassination in an exhibit from march 23rd through may 25th. for more information about commemorative events, visit fords.org. you're watching american history

tv on cspan 3. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on cspan 3. to join the conversation like us on facebook at cspan history. this april marks the 150th anniversary of president lincoln's assassination at ford's theater. up next author thomas bogar revisits that night through experiences and official testimony of some of the actors and employees of the ford brothers, the owners who would never again stage a performance in the building. this event was hosted by the national archives and lasts about an hour. >> it's funny when you start out to work on a book about something so well-known in american history such a signal event, you have to really aim for who you think your readers are going to be. i started to find early that

there's such a spectrum. on one end you have people who are real scholars familiar with the most arcane details and then you have on the other end what was shown by my visit recently to a city that will remain nameless. i was having dinner in that city in a fine upscale restaurant. the manager of the restaurant came by and asked me what brought me to the city. when i explained i was doing research about the lincoln assassination, she looked at me blankly and then said, lincoln was assassinated? so i have to aim center in there. with the book and today i'm going to try to aid more toward the former category than the latter. i found that as much as history is understood in a timeline or in specific people, it's really the context that explains the significance of it. for me with a theater

background, the context is the theater. this was an act that occurred in a theater by an actor with other actors standing by. and i wanted to look at it through the eyes of those people. and when i was working on the president's book and working on the lincoln chapters, i kept coming across this iconic play bill for "our american cousin." i just kept thinking these are real people, most of whose names have been lost. if you asked people on the street who the people were involved with the lincoln assassination. people know lincoln and booth. maybe one in 10000 would know laura keene. almost no one would know hairy hawk, billy witers. these were major names in the events of that night. so i started looking even closer to get a sense of who were these people. in some cases, their names were

spelled wrong or the names were a missrepresentation. it's really difficult tracking down actors because the census records weren't always reflective of who they were. they also varied their birth dates a lot. i found that the actresses for every ten years that they would perform, they kept upping their birth date by about five years to continue to play younger roles. so i looked at these names. the more i found about their background, i kept looking for who they were and every account i read either followed booth out the back door to his death or lincoln carried out the front door to his death at the peterson house across the street. and no one seemed concerned with the 46 people who were still trapped in that theater with the soldiers rushing in with the crowd outside chanting burn the

damn place down and the soldiers telling them they couldn't leave. so they're trapped in there and really terrified. almost all of them without any knowledge of what was occurring, some, yes, to a certain degree complicit. but that's something i investigated more as i got into the book. what i wanted to really kind of clarify is what must it have felt like backstage in an era without electric lights. the versions i kept reading were all sitting in the audience looking at the stage. if you turn that around, waiting in nervousness before the curtain to go up the house lights are still up. in those days, they didn't blackout the house because of the constant threat of fire. they would run the house lights at about half. they could also monitor what was happening out in the audience. a couple of the actresses said they saw booth come