Why a Booktrail?
1800s: An historical travelogue of the USA
Assassination Vacation
Why a Booktrail?
1800s: An historical travelogue of the USA
What you need to know before your trail
Transporting us from Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to Key West, Vowell has crafted a narrative that is much more than a historical travelogue – it is the disturbing and mesmerising story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including film, literature, and – the author’s favourite – historical tourism. Skilfully belying the undercurrents of loss and violence that course through her journey, Vowell injects a range of lighter detours along the way, including mummies, show tunes, mean-spirited totem poles, a nineteenth-century biblical sex cult – and exactly how Lincoln’s Republican Party became Bush’s Republican Party. Assassination Vacation is a fascinating, informative, and richly entertaining look at the myriad ways in which political assassinations have altered and shaped our nation’s history.
Locations
Reset- America/USA - Washington DC
- C: Ford's Museum
- D: Memorial Lincoln
- E: National Gallery of Art - James A. Garfield spot
- America/ USA - Ohio
- F: Mentor - Garfield's Election Campaign Headquarters
- America/USA - FL
- G: Fort Jefferson/ Dry Tortugas National Park
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style through America’s history and assassination spots
President McKinley – Buffalo, NY
Although McKinley enjoyed meeting the public, there had been recent assassinations by anarchists in Europe, and so extra care was taken when he gave a speech at the Exposition in Buffalo. Leon Czolgosz waited until the President was meeting the public at the Temple of Music on the Exposition grounds, concealed his gun in a handkerchief,and waited in line to shoot him.
President James A. Garfield – Washington DC
President James A. Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau. The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station, also known as Pennsylvania Railroad Station, was a railroad station in 1872 until its closure in 1907. It was located at the southern corner of 6th street NW and B Street NW (now Constitution Avenue), and although it is no longer there, if you visit the site of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, that’s where it all happened.
President Abraham Lincoln – Washington
Mudd, O’Laughlen, Arnold, and Spangler were imprisoned at Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles (110 km) west of Key West, Florida. The actual assassination took place in the Ford Theatre in Washington DC. There is now a museum which the author visited where you can see a display of events, find out more about it and buy souvenirs.
Streetview Maps
A) USA - Buffalo - McKinley assassination site
C) USA - Washington - Ford Theatre
E) USA Washington - James A. Garfield spot
G) USA - Florida - Fort Jefferson
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Assassination Vacation
Destination: Buffalo, Washington, Key West Author/guide: Sarah Vowell Departure Time: 1800s onwards
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