Share This Article

There is an advertisement for the History Channel that claims Pres. A. Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth stand together in a picture. Is this true? Is there a reference book that you can refer me to that shows it? Who would have taken such a picture?

I am very interested in this time period of American History and the answers would send me to places of research I must not have as yet found.

Thank You
Emile J. Roberts

? ? ?

Dear Mr. Roberts,

There has been considerable controversy as to whether John Wilkes Booth attended Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865. I can only tell you that Harold Holzer, Senior Vice President, External Affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, after poring over the photo, remarked, “My feeling is yes,” and Civil War Times editor Dana Shoaf agrees with him.

Here are some references and other insights:

Mail for Mr. Booth

Visual Research at the Crossroads by John Grady

Unexpected photos of historical figures

 

Sincerely,

 

Jon Guttman
Research Director
World History Group
More Questions at Ask Mr. History