WASHINGTON, DC.- Ford’s Theatre Society announced that a hallmark museum exhibition, Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination, returns a priceless collection of items that were in the Theatre or carried by Abraham Lincoln the night of his assassination to the Center for Education and Leadership (514 Tenth Street, NW), March 23 to May 25, 2015. The exhibition coincides with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and death on April 14 and 15, 2015.

Included within the Silent Witnesses exhibition are: Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, cuff buttons, a Brooks Brothers Great Coat and the contents of his pockets from the night of the assassination; Mary Todd Lincoln’s black velvet cloak; John Wilkes Booth’s deringer pistol; a letter from Dr. Charles Leale, the first to attend to the wounded president; the Bunting Flag from the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre; fragments from the gowns worn by Mary Todd Lincoln and guest Clara Harris; gloves belonging to Major Henry Rathbone; a bloody sleeve cuff and fragment from the costume worn by leading actress Laura Keene; a playbill for the Ford's Theatre performance of Our American Cousin; and a violin and drumsticks used in the orchestra the night of April 14, 1865.

Additionally, Lincoln’s carriage, which transported the President, Mary Todd Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris to Ford’s Theatre, are on display at the National Museum of American History, March 23 to May 25, 2015.

In connection with Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination, the Smithsonian Channel will air a one-hour special in April 2015 titled Lincoln’s Last Day, which counts down the final 24 hours of Abraham Lincoln’s life. Through a rare collection of intensely personal artifacts connected to the Lincoln assassination, the program will unravel the movements of each player in the deadly plot. By exploring the objects that survived—possessions like Lincoln's gold watch and hat and John Wilkes Booth’s diary and deringer—Lincoln’s Last Day tells the story of a moment that would transform a nation.

Lenders for Silent Witnesses include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; Chicago History Museum; Library of Congress; National Museum of American History; National Park Service; Pike County Historical Society; Shapell Manuscript Foundation; Studebaker National Museum; and historian James Swanson.

“As we approach the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and remember the tremendous impact that his leadership and death had on our nation, we are proud to partner with the National Museum of American History, museums across the nation and with our colleagues at the National Park Service to bring this extraordinary collection of artifacts under one roof,” said Ford’s Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault. “By seeing these remarkable items up close and reading the personal accounts of those who were present at the assassination, we hope visitors will better understand the humanity of an American icon and how this tragedy changed the course of our history.”