The Plot(s) at Ford's

Back from a very interesting mini-symposium at Ford's Theatre, "Lincoln Assassination Conspiracies." Tonight's event was apparently part of a series sponsored by the Spy Museum.

The three speakers were:

Michael W. Kauffman, author of American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies.

H. Donald Winkler, author of Lincoln and Booth: More Light on the Conspiracy.

Frank J. Williams, retired chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and author of several books on Lincoln, including an anthology of essays, Judging Lincoln.

Since I am not well versed in this subject--Civil War espionage generally and the life of John Wilkes Booth specifically--all of it was new and interesting. I thought Winkler in particular made a compelling case for the role of the Confederate government in setting the mechanisms in motion that led to April 14, 1865, assassination of Lincoln.

He also said that the revelations leading to some of his conclusions are of relatively recent origins, emerging from groundbreaking scholarship in the 1980s. The point was that we will always keep learning new things, though we may never attain all the answers to our questions. (Why did Booth only have a single-shot pistol and a dagger that night? How did he know Lincoln would be virtually unguarded? And why was Lincoln virtually unguarded?)

What was interesting to me was that the theater was about 85% full (at least the orchestra section) for a weeknight lecture. The knowledgeable and appreciative audience of history buffs flashed pictures all evening, and at the end several stood to ask questions. And they sometimes even left the guest experts stumped for an answer.

I don't know, it's a bit comforting I guess. The present is confusing. The future is confusing. The past is still confusing, too. Our ongoing need for answers drives the quest for questions. Asking is therefore more important than answering.

Love, hosaa
wondering