Assassination of President Lincoln

This lithograph print of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was published by Currier & Ives in 1865. The assassination of President Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth occurred on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. while "Our American Cousin", a play, was being performed. Seated in the Presidential Box along with President Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln were their guests, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancé, Clara Harris. Maj. Rathbone, at left, is seen standing, confronting the assassin as he fatally shoots the president. Rathbone was stabbed during while attempting to capture Booth. The print was a popular seller at the time and was framed and hung or placed in scrapbooks in many homes.