A Ford Theatre Curse?
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, the bizarre murder of America's President Abraham Lincoln took place at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C. The fanatic actor, John Wilkes Booth, crept up behind the president's box, shot him in the back of the head and added another tragic note to the Ford Theatre's odd history.
Originally, the Ford Theatre, actually a reconverted old Baptist church, opened its doors in the Spring of 1862. History tells us that members of the former Baptist church were against its use as a theatre, thinking in their puritanical ways as did most of our forefathers of those times, that it would be almost sacrilegious to use the former church for the evil diversion of theater. One member of that Baptist church prophesized evil would befall it, being put to such wicked use. Ironically (or not), the theatre, which was originally called the Atheneum, burned to the ground that following December.
John T. Ford, owner of the theatre, again worked in the new construction of a completely new theatre, following that incident. On August 27, 1863, Ford again opened the doors to his new theatre, renaming it the Ford Theatre.
Tragedy again struck with Lincoln's murder on April 14, 1865, and the War Department closed the theatre on the fateful night of the assassination, never to be reopened due to the outcry of a grieving public. The theatre's function at that time was as a storage warehouse and an office by the U.S. Government which bought the property.
In 1893, following along the sequence of its tragic history, we find that 22 government employees were killed and 65 others injured as weakened and overburdened floors fell from a height of 30 feet within the building.
Again the doors were closed. After interior reconstruction and repair, it was used merely as a warehouse by the government. It remained so for the following forty-or-so years, until the ground floor was converted into the Lincoln museum, containing memorabilia of the president and artifacts from that infamous night. During the 1950s, congress then appropriated funds to restore and reopen the theatre to the public as part of the national heritage. Since 1968, it has functioned as its original conception by John T. Ford as a theater for the arts.
Considering the given facts, we wonder, if at all, the Ford Theatre is indeed, haunted, or cursed as some say. There is talk about eerie sights and sounds at the Ford by both functionaries and visitors.
Could it be that the original tenants, the Baptists, "left their mark" on Ford Theatre, inflamed at the thought of their church being used for "wicked means?" Moreover, it would be interesting to find what the experiences of the Baptists were at the site of the theater under their ownership. Were there also tragic events during their stay there? And what of the inhabitants on that site before them? Interesting questions which could possibly produce some interesting answers.
To date, we find no news of more tragic events occurring at the Ford Theatre...at least not publicly known. Should other unfortunate instances happen in the future, I think it would be reasonably safe to assume that events which have taken place at the Ford Theatre are out of the norm.
Haunted or cursed somehow?...Yes, maybe. Time will tell. Let's watch and see.
Last updated on 07/27/07 12:00 PM
