36 2014 Lincoln Heritage Museum Magazine Lincoln Daily News.com April 26, 2014
In the new Lincoln Heritage Museum, the sadness of Lincoln's life is recalled
in a unique and emotionally moving way as the tour takes the guest through
the mind of Lincoln and what he may have seen in his memory in the last
hours of life.
The upstairs guided tour begins at the end, on that fateful night when Lincoln
and his wife attended Ford's Theatre. As they sat in their seats in the balcony,
they were unaware that these would be the last moments they would be
together in life. As the play rolls along, a shot is heard in the balcony and the
president slumps forward while his wife holds on to him.
The tour begins at this dramatic moment. Visitors to the museum
find themselves in Ford's Theatre, standing in the background as the
president and Mary Todd Lincoln enjoy the play. Through holographic
technology, they see John Wilkes Booth aim his pistol, and they see
Lincoln slump forward in Mary's arms.
The hours that passed between the shot and Lincoln's death were
filled with grief and concern by those surrounding his bedside. But for
Lincoln, those hours may have been filled with memories ... reflections
of a life lived.
