Want to come heckle BoothieBarn authors Dave Taylor and Kate Ramirez in person? Here are some of our public speaking engagements planned for the future.
Date: Sunday, October 7, 2018
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Joseph Booth: The Youngest Brother of John Wilkes Booth
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: Of all of the Booth brothers, it was only the youngest Booth, Joseph Adrian who shunned the spotlight. Born into a family of actors, young Joseph only briefly entered the family profession before realizing he exited the stage for good. While far less is known about Joseph than his famous (and infamous) brothers, the details we we do know paint a fascinating tale of an enigmatic brother. In his speech, Dave will examine the life of Joseph Adrian Booth and the impact Lincoln’s assassination had on his life. More information will be posted later at: http://spiritsoftudorhall.blogspot.com/2016/11/make-plans-to-visit-tudor-hall-in-2017_7.html
Cost: $5.00 cash for the talk and a tour of Tudor Hall
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2018
Location: Jarrettsville Library (3722 Norrisville Rd. Jarrettsville, Md 21084)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Confessions of an Ax Murderess
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: On the morning of August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found murdered in their home. After an intensive investigation by the police, Lizzie Borden, Andrew’s youngest daughter, was arrested and charged with the double patricide. This is her side of the story. Actor and researcher, Kate Taylor, takes you back to Fall River, Massachusetts and inside the mind of the mysterious woman who changed it forever.
Cost: Free
Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Location: New Bedford
Whaling National Historical Park Main Auditorium (33 Williams St, New Bedford, MA 02740)
Time: 7:00 pm
Speech: “Beware the People Whistling”: The Final Days of Mary Surratt
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: In 1865 Mary Surratt was running a boarding house in Washington D.C. She was put on trial, as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and was the first woman to be executed by the United States government. Kate, as Mary Surratt, fills her final days in Washington D.C., recalling memories of her family, the choices she made throughout the bloody American Civil War, and the man who brought her and her fellow prisoners to ruin, John Wilkes Booth.
Cost: Free
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2019
Location: Perryville branch of the Cecil County Library (500 Coudon Blvd. Perryville, MD 21903)
Time: 11:00 am
Speech: The Making of an Assassin: The History of John Wilkes Booth
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: How did John Wilkes Booth go from celebrated actor to villainous assassin? In his speech, Dave will recount the life of John Wilkes Booth and what led him to the Presidential box at Ford’s Theatre.
Cost: Free
Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Location: Lynchburg Civil War Round Table (4009 Murray Place, Lynchburg, Virginia 24501)
Time: 7:45 pm
Speech: The Making of an Assassin: The History of John Wilkes Booth
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: How did John Wilkes Booth go from celebrated actor to villainous assassin? In his speech, Dave will recount the life of John Wilkes Booth and what led him to the Presidential box at Ford’s Theatre.
Cost: Cost for the talk is $5. Guests are also welcome to come for the buffet dinner starting at 7:00 pm but the cost for that is $25. Information can be found at: https://www.historicsandusky.org/lcwrt
Date: TBD Saturday in April 2019
Location: Surratt House Museum (9118 Brandywine Road, Clinton, MD 20735)
Time: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Speech: John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Bus Tour
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: The 12 hour bus trip which documents the escape of the assassin through Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Cost: $85. Registration information can be found at: http://www.surrattmuseum.org/booth-escape-tour
Date: Sunday, May 5, 2019
Location: Thomas Stone National Historic Site (6655 Rose Hill Rd, Port Tobacco, MD 20677)
Time: TBD
Speech: Frederick Stone: A Life of Service and Secrets
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: Frederick Stone was the great nephew of Thomas Stone, one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence. Though he never knew his illustrious relative, Frederick lived for a time at his great uncle’s estate of Haber-de-venture before being educated in the law. His lifetime of public service would lead him from lawyer to commissioner to delegate to judge. Along the way, however, Frederick Stone became involved in one of the most traumatic events in our nation’s history: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In his speech, researcher Dave Taylor will explore the life of Frederick Stone and the secrets he carried with him about the death of Abraham Lincoln.
Cost: Free
Additional speeches and information will be posted when available. Past speaking engagements can be seen here: https://boothiebarn.com/about/
If you are interested in having either Dave or Kate speak to your group about any aspect of the Lincoln assassination story, click to Contact Us or email to BoothieBarn@gmail.com
Pingback: New Gallery – Baptist Alley « BoothieBarn
Most of your pictures show the alley directly behind the theatre rear wall. The others show the “L” turn to the street. Which one is “Baptist Alley”? Or are both of them considered to be the alley. I Have always been unsure of this. (Incidentally, the bottom right drawing, from Olzweski’s Historic Structures report, shows a staircase behind the adjacent building, which housed the box office and the Ford brothers’ offices.
I’d like to bring up another subject, if I may. I am sorry I don’t recall if you’ve ever written about this, Dave.) Many students of the case believe that this was the second of the three phases of Laura Keene’s route from the stage to the Presidential box after the assassination, in order to avoid most (not all) of the panic-stricken crowd. Actor Robert Gourlay was familiar with the theatre; Laura wasn’t. He took her to the box via this route. (Maybe his name was Thomas; I forget as I write this!) Anyway, phase one of this trip to the box was to cross the stage to a corridor located behind the box, seperating the theatre from this adjoining building. Phase two was to go outside through the door at the end of the corridor (seen in the Historic Structures picture). And phase three was to go inside the adjoining building to the second floor and then enter the theatre through doors on the same level as the Presidential box. Art Loux and I first traversed this route many years ago to see if it was possible — it was. (The staircase is now INSIDE the restored building, rather than being OUTSIDE.) When I gave a talk at Ford’s Theatre about actress Jeannie Gourlay, I showed the audience how this could have been quickly accomplished. I presented a Gourlay descendant to the audience. On my cue, she left the stage by going behind the box. A few moments later she re-appeared at the entrance to the box.
When I was putting the gallery together, Richard, I too was wondering if the term Baptist Alley only applied to one of these streets. That probably was the case with either the alley directly behind Ford’s, parallel to 10th St., or the alleyway that runs perpendicular into Ford’s, parallel to F street, being the true “Baptist Alley”. It is doubtful that the alley that exits out onto F that Booth exited from would have been named Baptist Alley. Nowadays though, we seem to call all of those alleys back there Baptist Alley.
This was a long discussion a while ago, Richard and that was the conclusion. However, was there another door besides the one behind the dress circle that led into the second floor of the southern addition? I think the consensus was it was the only door.
thanks for the post. When I was in DC in 2003 went to Ford’s theater and the theater was closed. Walked to Baptist Alley and talked with the Park District rangers. One of the Rangers let me enter the back door that Booth exited. I got to see the theater from a different perspective. The Ranger said ” you got to see a part of Ford’s theater that 99% of the visitors do not. To this day it was exciting to think I was in the door way that Booth escaped. Thanks again for the pictures.
That’s very cool, Richard. My question to you is, did you take any pictures that you’d be willing to share?
I did not; the only picture is in my memory bank.
Pingback: New Galleries – The Assassination « BoothieBarn
I don’t think there was another door or set of doors behind the Dress Circle that led to the adj. bldg. There certainly isn;t one today. I see no reason why there would have been the need for another one. I think the Interior Dept. got it right when they only reconstructed one set of doors there.
SO EXACTLY WHERE WAS BOOTH’S STABLE, DAVE (AND EVERYONE ELSE)? As you look at the rear wall of the theatre, wasn’t it on the right?. DO we have any photos of it? I have a wire service photo allegedly of the structure that was the stable for the horse, and it appears to be on the right as you look at the theatre’s rear wall.Not sure if that’s accurate, tho.
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