Series 5. Research Materials, 1862 - 1978

The Richard D. Mudd Papers contain the extensive research files of Richard D. Mudd, whose grandfather, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, set the leg of Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth as Booth attempted to escape the scene of the crime through southern Maryland. Samuel A. Mudd went to prison for setting Booth's leg, but Richard D. Mudd decades later contended that his grandfather was simply doing his duty as a medical doctor. Although he was released from prison by President Andrew Johnson, Samuel A. Mudd was never fully cleared of assisting Booth. The case generated controversy when it occurred, and some still find it controversial today. For his part, Richard D. Mudd believed his grandfather was innocent of any complicity in the assassination, so he researched a large number of aspects of the Lincoln assassination to prove his innocence. Representing his research findings, this collection consists mostly of correspondence he compiled with historians and other researchers, newspaper clippings, and published articles. In addition, the collection includes more than 100 audio cassette tapes recording talks or interviews by Richard D. Mudd and other Lincoln assassination scholars.

Together, these materials provide detailed secondary source material about Samuel A. Mudd and the Lincoln assassination. Most of the documents date between 1950 and 1990. The folder headings designated by Richard D. Mudd have been maintained, as has his original alphabetical order.