Edward Askew Sothern the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." On 15 October 1858, "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York.
Abraham Lincoln Institute Abraham Lincoln Institute The Abraham Lincoln Institute (ALI), founded in 1997, is a non-profit organization promoting scholarly research on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. The institute utilizes dissertation prizes, book awards, and an annual Lincoln symposium to encourage research and scholarship on the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. These annual symposia, presented at the National Archives in College Park, MD and more recently at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, are a venue for both emerging and highly renowned Lincoln scholars to present the findings of their current research. They are attended by the general public and have been frequently