I Mary

[Rob Wick]

I think a case can be made that Ruth Randall could be faulted for not providing a source for the story. After all, her husband was the preeminent Lincoln scholar of the mid-20th century and faulted numerous writers for failing to cite their sources (most notably, as one would guess, Carl Sandburg). Even if Ruth had not been Mrs. James G. Randall, her father was Professor F.V.N. Painter, literature scholar at Roanoke College in Virginia, and her brother was Theopholus Painter, president of the University of Texas (and namesake of the landmark civil rights case of Sweatt v. Painter in 1950), so she was well aware of the rules of scholarship. I would question the validity of the story given the Randall's intense dislike of Herndon.

Best
Rob