Lincoln’s original catafalque kept in the U.S. Capitol

A simple wooden catafalque constructed in 1865 to support President Abraham Lincoln’s casket remains in the U.S. Capitol and has been reused for subsequent lying-in-state and lying-in-honor ceremonies for other national figures. The catafalque is stored and displayed within the Capitol and is an historic artifact associated with national funerary rites in the building. Its continued ceremonial use links it directly to Lincoln and to the Capitol’s ceremonial history.