Abraham Lincoln's Bloody Gloves

hello my name is James Cornelius I am the curator of the Lincoln collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum in Springfield Illinois we are here today in the stage of the ghosts of the library scene which if you have visited the museum you will recognize our artifact of the month for April is the pair of gloves that Abraham Lincoln had in his pocket on the night that he was killed at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth these gloves became blood stained mostly along the sides of each thumb you can try this yourself as I have with my curators gloves you take them off put them into your pocket left coat pocket is where Lincoln had them it is the thumb side that is standing up when Booth shot Lincoln behind his left ear from about a foot away the blood began to run down Lincoln's back and neck he slumped forward he was later picked up by doctors and others and made out on the floor the blood ran into his pocket and elsewhere on his clothing including his neck his collar and of course his coat Mary Lincoln was allowed to keep these gloves about three years later she gave them away to a millionaire from New York City who was a collector of presidential memorabilia they were no longer of emotional connection to Mary we suppose she wanted to have them better known to the world and her husband's things collected along with other presidential memorabilia they're made of kit leather they have begun to shrink a little bit not in the length which is about the same original length his hands were longer than mine but because of the stitching they have begun to contract narrowly this is how Mary Lincoln began her 17 years of widowhood perhaps the most tragic public life in American history but she gave these to someone who would keep them for perpetuity she can no longer hold Abraham's hand we can hold on to these gloves for perpetuity so that the world may see them here at the Presidential Museum we hope that you can support us in the effort to maintain Lincoln's possessions and Mary's possessions and those of their friends and loved ones by supporting the permanent home campaign thank you

Channel: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Views: 405,158

Rating: 4.9191256 out of 5

Keywords: Abraham, Lincoln, Presidential, Library, Museum, Gloves, Bloody, Assassination, John, Wilkes, Booth

Id: pSdANJr1oDU

Length: 4min 13sec (253 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 24 2011