Government Shutdown Affects the Historic Ford's Theatre

The recent government shutdown has taken many government sanctioned programs such as museums and parks, and the historic Ford Theatre is also suffering because of it. It recently released the statement below:

"Because of the ever-changing situation with the government shutdown, we have received conflicting messages over the last several days about the fate of Ford's Theatre National Historic Site. Ford's Theatre is operated through a public-private partnership between Ford's Theatre Society and the National Park Service. Ford's Theatre Society (FTS) is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and we do not use any federal funding or federal employees for our programming. Because FTS programming does not utilize public money, we were able to continue performances during previous government shutdowns. However, on Tuesday, October 1, FTS was told that we cannot perform in the theatre during the shutdown. As the shutdown progresses, we will be in touch with patrons regarding the status of their programming."

Two of the performances that will continue are the walking tour of DC led by an actor portraying James McDevitt, a detective that was on duty the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and the center for education and leadership which has a permanent exhibition of Abraham Lincoln's legacy and assassination. The three things that have currently been cancelled are the daytime visits to the Ford Theatre historic site and the National Park Ranger program along with the Ford Theatre's performances of the Laramie Project.

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