Ford's Theatre

This guide to Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. follows John Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, 1865, an actor familiar enough with this stage to have his own mail delivered here. It traces how he moved through the theatre's halls and backstage passages, slipped past the guard outside the presidential box, and sealed its door behind him. You'll also hear about the building's later life, including a collapse decades afterward that killed twenty-two clerks who never knew Booth at all.