Did Vinnie Ream visit the White House daily for 5 months?

[Rob Wick]

Just a couple of thoughts.

First, in 1871, during the private unveiling of the Lincoln statue before the Secretary of the Interior, the Washington Evening Star published on its front page a detailed account of Ream and the history of the statue. From reading the article, spread across three full columns of the front page, it's obvious the article was sourced by Ream herself. Nowhere in the article does she mention ever sitting alone with Lincoln in the White House. Given the negative publicity Ream had received up to that point (Charles Sumner questioning her ability to complete the sculpture, her alleged involvement in Edmund G. Ross's vote not to convict Andrew Johnson or being kicked out of her studio in the Capitol building) it seems unfathomable that Ream wouldn't have mentioned her intimate sittings with Lincoln over the years in the White House in an attempt to garner favorable publicity and bolster her own reputation. From the newspaper articles I've read, Ream was a master at manipulating the press as well as various congressmen and senators. She might have been a young girl, but she was a savvy and rather mature young girl.

Second, it seems the key here is James S. Rollins. It was Rollins who first introduced Lincoln to Ream, and it would have been Rollins that Ream approached to get into the White House. Rollins's papers are located at the State Historical Society of Missouri. According to the finding aid, the first mention of Ream comes in 1862, so the time frame would be accurate to Ream's later story, but, of course, the contents of the letters would go toward determining whether Ream embellished her later story or told the truth. Rollins was obviously a fan of Ream, mentioning her in a speech in 1871, and he shared a deep friendship with the painter George Caleb Bingham, so he had a personal interest in the art world and did all he could to promote the career of those he found worthy, so it seems his letters in Missouri could possibly be the Rosetta Stone in this.

However, given the failure of Ream to mention her sitting with Lincoln in the 1871 article, I'm growing more skeptical that she had numerous sittings with Lincoln. I'm not ready to say she never sat with Lincoln, but I think it seems probable that she didn't for as long as she claimed.

UPDATE: In further examining papers of the era, I came across an account of the unveiling in the New York Herald of January 26, 1871. In a speech, Lyman Trumbull is quoted as saying that Ream was among many sculptors and artists who made "statuettes and heads of Lincoln and she also made a bust from sittings by Lincoln." This seems to me to be the earliest reference to her sitting with Lincoln not made by her (at least in a public speech). She may very well have told Trumbull this, but it seems equally possible that Trumbull may have known this on his own. Certainly not conclusive, but it isn't immediately clear that Trumbull was told this before his remarks.

Best
Rob