Want to come heckle BoothieBarn authors Dave & Kate Taylor in person? Here are some of our public speaking engagements planned for the future.
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Burying the Booths: Their Final Days and Funerals
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: The Booth family of Tudor Hall left an indelible mark on theater and American history. As each Booth shuffled off this mortal coil their deaths were widely commented on in the press. In his speech, Dave Taylor will recount the deaths and final resting places of the various members of the Booth family noting how the nation reacted to the passing of a theatrical dynasty forever tainted by a horrendous crime. More information will be found 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, August 23, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Lights, Camera, Assassination: John Wilkes Booth on Stage and Screen
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: John Wilkes Booth’s theatrical career came to a fiery end in 1865. However, his infamy still lives in modern media, both on stage and on screen. Can an actor’s choices influence opinions about Booth’s character? Does the inclusion of Booth in someone else’s story change the narrative? How is Booth used as a trope in plot lines where he, arguably, doesn’t belong? And are there repercussions to popular media giving Booth the remembrance he so desired in life. Join Kate Taylor as she explores John Wilkes Booth in the modern media. More information will be found 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: TBD Saturday(s) in September, 2020
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: Dave is one of the narrators for the Surratt House Museum’s John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Tour. The 12 hour bus tour documents the escape of the assassin through Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Information on how to register can be found here: http://www.surrattmuseum.org/booth-escape-tour
Cost: $85
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Lights, Camera, Assassination: John Wilkes Booth on Stage and Screen
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: John Wilkes Booth’s theatrical career came to a fiery end in 1865. However, his infamy still lives in modern media, both on stage and on screen. Can an actor’s choices influence opinions about Booth’s character? Does the inclusion of Booth in someone else’s story change the narrative? How is Booth used as a trope in plot lines where he, arguably, doesn’t belong? And are there repercussions to popular media giving Booth the remembrance he so desired in life. Join Kate Taylor as she explores John Wilkes Booth in the modern media. More information will be found 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: Saturday, October 24, 2020
Location: St. Mary’s Bryantown Cemetery (13715 Notre Dame Pl, Bryantown, MD 20617)
Time: 1:00 pm
Speech: A Grave Tour of Dr. Mudd’s Cemetery
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: While many people have visited St. Mary’s Bryantown in order to see the grave of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the cemetery is also the final resting place of many of Mudd’s relatives and neighbors. At least 15 residents of St. Mary’s testified regarding Dr. Mudd at his 1865 trial and each one had an interesting tale to tell. As part of the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum’s monthly speaker series, Dave Taylor will host a walking tour of St. Mary’s Cemetery. Learn about the stones and bones that rest in St. Mary’s Bryantown and how they connect to the doctor who set the leg of an assassin.
Cost: Free, but donations for the Dr. Mudd House Museum are always appreciated.
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Burying the Booths: Their Final Days and Funerals
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: The Booth family of Tudor Hall left an indelible mark on theater and American history. As each Booth shuffled off this mortal coil their deaths were widely commented on in the press. In his speech, Dave Taylor will recount the deaths and final resting places of the various members of the Booth family noting how the nation reacted to the passing of a theatrical dynasty forever tainted by a horrendous crime. More information will be found 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
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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