A Day of Mourning

President Abraham Lincoln’s railroad funeral car. Photo by S.M. Fassett, 1865. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

This month marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The 16th president was shot by John Wilkes Booth the evening of April 14 and died nine hours later on April 15.

Several days later, Lincoln’s body would begin its long train-trek home to Springfield, Ill., where he would be buried on May 4. Departing April 21, 1865, from Washington, D.C., his funeral procession would travel 1,654 miles through 180 cities and seven states. Nicknamed “The Lincoln Special,” the nine-car funeral train would essentially travel the same tracks that carried the then President-elect east in 1861. Follow the journey with this special presentation in the Library’s Lincoln Bicentennial exhibition.

Lincoln’s coffin was taken off the train at each stop and placed on a horse-drawn hearse that rode through the city to a place the public could pay their respects. Throngs of people lined the streets to watch the funeral procession. Millions more lined the train tracks as the slain president made his final journey home.

The sorrow of the nation was palpable in reports from newspapers across the country.

items in the collection relate to Lincoln’s funeral, including music, newspaper articles, mourning cards, funeral programs and more.