What: Paul Bourget on the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln [FREE EVENT]

When: Sunday, March 11, 1:30pm

Where: The Museum of Work & Culture, 42 S. Main St., Woonsocket, R.I.

 

Historical Reenactor Explores Assassination of Lincoln in Free Talk

(WOONSOCKET, R.I.) – The Museum of Work & Culture will offer the final installment of its 2018 Valley Talks, a series of free lectures, on Sunday, March 11, at 1:30pm.

 

Writer and historical reenactor Paul Bourget’s presentation will explore the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, who was in an extraordinarily good mood on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. Five days before, Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Gen. U.S. Grant at Appomattox. Knowing that the President loved the theater, the First Lady suggested that they attend the comedy playing at Ford’s Theater, Our American Cousin, starring the renowned actress Laura Keene. During the performance, John Wilkes Booth slipped into the President’s box and shot him. As the President lay dying across the street, more than 10,000 Federal soldiers, militia, and security agents embarked on the largest manhunt Washington had ever seen. Booth and his co-conspirators knew that they had to flee to Richmond … but time was running out.

 

Seating is limited to 75 and is first come, first served.

 

Bourget is the owner and president of Bourget & Associates. He was the editor, researcher, and co-writer of Towers of Faith and Family, a history of Woonsocket’s St. Ann’s parish, and was the founding president of St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center. He currently serves as the President of the Museum of Work & Culture’s Preservation Foundation, Treasurer of the Stadium Theatre Preservation Foundation, and a member of the Woonsocket School Committee. Bourget is also an experienced historical reenactor, portraying Brigadier General George Sears Greene, a native Rhode Islander and forgotten hero of Gettysburg.

 

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About the Museum of Work & Culture

The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It recently received a Rhode Island Monthly Best of Rhode Island Award for its SensAbilities Saturdays all-ability program.

 

About the Rhode Island Historical Society

Founded in 1822, the RIHS, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island’s largest and oldest historical organization. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state’s most distinctive areas.