History Bitches Fieldtrip #5: Mary Surratt's Boardinghouse and Mount Olivet Cemetery

Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt, c. 1850

This Saturday, my friend George (of Bricktop podcast and Eater DC fame) and I drove out to Mount Olivet Cemetery; I wanted to photograph Mary Surratt’s grave. On July 7, 1865, Mary was bestowed the unlucky distinction of becoming the first woman executed by the U.S. government. She received this “honor” for her reputed participation in the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln.

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