November 2010

At 7:22am on April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died on a bed in the Petersen House. The narrow building adjoins to Ford's Theatre and is open for tours.

On the night of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. He died in the early morning on April 15 in the small back bedroom of a boarding house across the street. Lincoln struggled through the Civil War to preserve the Union and lived long enough to see it maintained—but not long enough to help in healing the wounds left by the war. This gentle man, who abhorred violence, had presided over four years of civil war and now, ironically, became a victim of violence himself. The theatre where Lincoln was shot and the house where he died are preserved today as Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site to tell us of these events, to remind us of the troubling times this Nation passed through and to encourage us to perpetuate the aspirations, the hopes and the ideals that Lincoln held for the United States.

In 1861, theatre entrepreneur John T. Ford leased the First Baptist Church and converted it into a music hall. “Ford’s Athenaeum” grew in popularity and was poised for tremendous success when the building was tragically destroyed by fire. Undaunted, the entrepreneur immediately began reconstruction and opened Ford’s “New Theatre” in August 1863, at the height of the Civil War.

Less than two years later, on the evening of April 14, 1865, tragedy struck once more when President Abraham Lincoln attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. John Wilkes Booth, a former actor with Confederate ties, stepped into the Presidential Box and fatally shot the President, plunging the nation into mourning and the Theatre into darkness for over one hundred years.

Following Lincoln’s death, the public demanded the closure of the Theatre, threatening the building with destruction and its owners with bodily harm. For almost ninety years, Ford’s Theatre no longer functioned as a theatre, but instead served intermittently as a museum, office space and storage facility.

George Washington was invited to stay at the home by the DeWint family, first during August 8th to the 24th, 1780, while he was inspecting a redoubt on the Hudson. Later that year, Washington returned in late September for the trial and subsequent hanging of the British spy, Major John André. André had been captured after a meeting with American General, Benedict Arnold, at which they made plans to betray the fortifications at West Point. During a snowstorm in November 1783, Washington again stayed in the home. Today, careful research and historic restoration have allowed the home to remain in the condition it once was when George Washington stayed there.

The Lincoln family began attending the church in 1850 after the death of three-year-old Edward Lincoln. Dr. James Smith, the pastor at the time, had conducted Eddie's funeral service in the Lincoln home. Abraham Lincoln did not formally join the church, but his wife Mary became a member on October 13, 1852. Their youngest son Thomas (Tad) was baptized in the church on April 4, 1856, which was his third birthday.

The present structure, built three years after President Lincoln died, was the site of Mrs. Lincoln's funeral on July 16, 1882. A stained glass window in the front features President Lincoln in the middle, flanked by Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton.

The old Lincoln pew now occupies a place of honor in the narthex where it is embellished with flags and a silver marker.

Carefully restored in 1971, the building houses many treasures. When you walk inside, you immediately see the exquisite elliptical stairway which leads to spacious rooms decorated in British Regency style.

Once upstairs you can see portraits of the Lincolns and their friend Edward D. Baker, a bust of Lincoln modeled from life by Thomas D. Jones, bedroom furniture given to the Lincolns, and a spectacular table presented to President Lincoln which contains more than 20,000 pieces of inlaid wood.

The park located in the village of Yigo, serves as a solemn reminder of a war that took the lives of over a-half million Japanese, Americans, and Pacific Islanders. The memorial's centerpiece is a 50-foot tall monument that abstractly depicts hands clasped in prayer.

Beneath this monument lie the remains of Japanese soldiers who lost their lives in the final days of Guam's wartime occupation. The path to the right of the monument leads to the shallow canyon where Obata hid his command post inside a labyrinth of caves. Also located on memorial grounds is a small Buddhist chapel that is home to WWII artifacts. The memorial park was built, and is maintained, by donations from Japanese citizens and serves as a symbolic gesture of peace.

Halfway between the Togcha River and the Cove sits a bunker built during World War II when Japanese armed forces occupied the island of Guam. In 1945 Japanese stragglers killed a Chamorro guide and five U.S. sailors who were hunting for war souvenirs up the Togcha River.

Famous W.W.II straggler Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi visited the Cove many times after he was discovered in 1972. For many years a tour to Yokoi's famous cave in Babulao Hills started with a briefing at Jeff's Pirates Cove. He spent 28 years in the Talofofo jungles after the end of the war. Yokoi said that while hiding in the Togcha Hills he listened to the Cove festivities.

The museum houses many collections of unique artifacts, glass fish floats, stone tools, ifit wood sculptures, rare seashells, pottery, fine oil paintings, black coral and floating rocks. The museum is also home to Yokoi's true story wall and the wheel from the battleship USS Oregon of 1893. Many items that have been found along the Ipan shoreline over the years are also on display.

This museum houses a vast collection of bluegrass music memorabilia.

Several interesting exhibits are on display at the museum. The Hall of Honor is an institution devoted to the recognition of noteworthy individuals for their outstanding contributions to bluegrass music.

Founded in 1991, the Hall of Honor is the bluegrass music industry's tribute to the pioneers of the music and the people who have made it great. Located on the first floor of the museum, the Big Mon exhibit tells the story of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music. In addition to items from his estate, visitors can learn about Monroe’s early years and how he came to create his music.

A timeline of bluegrass music follows the roots of bluegrass music, from the Scots-Irish string bands to camp meetings and gospel quartets, through fiddling conventions, the jazz era, and the folk music revival.

Currently, the museum features changing exhibits on the art and history of Bourbon County and Central Kentucky. Historic Paris Bourbon County preservation committees offer workshops and events that showcase preservation at work in both town and country settings. Hopewell Museum educates students with the Mary Spears Van Meter Learning Center. Hopewell Museum brings informational groups to Paris that enrich the culture. Among these have been speakers during Black History month, photographers of the equine industry, historians dealing with preservation, and talented artists and musicians.

George W. Headley spent his career designing jewelry and bibelots. In 1960, Headley married Barbara Whitney Henry Peck, who was the daughter of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The permanent collection includes jewelry and bibelots designed by Headley, his jewelry specifications, 18th and 19th century Chinese textiles, and Chinese ceramics which range in date from the Neolithic, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing periods.