The 2011 film The Conspirator tells the saga of Confederate widow Mary Surratt, tried for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth and others to assassinate
Abraham Lincoln. Although the Lincoln murder is widely taught, few know the full story - hat multiple attacks took place that night, that hundreds were rounded up by authorities, and that eight civilians were tried in a military court, one of them accused of crimes probably committed by her own son. Surratt's relationship with her son and with the Union colonel who defended her form an extraordinary and timeless story.
Screenwriter James D. Solomon began work on The Conspirator in 1993 at the Society Library, and he immersed himself in everything he could find on the
subject over the next eighteen years. This long and intense effort produced a compelling film directed by Robert Redford, with a distinguished cast including Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Kevin Kline, and Tom Wilkinson. Roger Ebert
commented, "Not many films this smart can be made," and the San Francisco Chronicle says that the film invites the audience to see the assassination and its associated tragedies "not as some immovable historical event, but as people of the time saw it, as an absolute outrage and an epic disaster."
In this event, Mr. Solomon will discuss his research on the assassination and its aftermath, the process of seeing his hard work brought to the screen, and the film's many complex responses. Clips from the film will be shown.
James D. Solomon also co-wrote and executive produced the ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning, among other projects.
