1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Before we get into 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: our episode, we have a little bit of business, which 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: is to announce a live show. Yeah, very exciting. We 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: are going to be at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: Indiana History Center. We are working with the Indiana Historical 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: Society to do a show for them on Friday, July nineteenth. 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: It is going to be an evening show and you 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: can come for the show or there is also a 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: ticket option where you can come and do a meet 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: and greet with us before the show and then go 13 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: to the show. We are very excited. Yeah, I really 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: really love the Indiana Historical Society. We did a show 15 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: with them before and we had so much fun. So 16 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: we hope to see you there. If you are interested, 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: you can go to www dot Indiana History dot org 18 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: slash events and you want to do that because this 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: is a show you need to register for beforehand. So 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: again that is Indianahistory dot org slash events, and we 21 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: hope to see you there. So in the first part, 22 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: of this two parter about Vinnie Reim. We talked about 23 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: Vinnie's early life, how she became a sculptor, and the 24 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: way that her life just seemed to be constantly engulfed 25 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: in drama. After her family moved to Washington, DC when 26 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: she was still a teenager, she lobbied for and got 27 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: a commission from Congress to create a memorial statue of 28 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln. Uh. If you didn't listen to part one, 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: you might be a little lost here. But more importantly, 30 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: you missed out on a whole lot of juicy drama. 31 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: So Uh's drama. Go back for that. It'll also explain 32 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: some context about how people perceived her. We are picking 33 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: up her story today after she completed the model for 34 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: the Lincoln statue and her next move to go to 35 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: Europe to have it created in marble. The timing of 36 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: any Reem's trip to Italy was somewhat good. She had 37 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: been so raked over the coals in the press and 38 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: in the idle gossip of Washington, DC that it was 39 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,239 Speaker 1: really starting to bother her. Although she was only twenty two, 40 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: she had been made famous and infamous and had way 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: more media coverage than even most celebrities were seeing in 42 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: their whole lifetime. When her father traveled to Louisiana as 43 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: she was wrapping up her Lincoln statue, he was startled 44 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: to find that people there were gossiping about his daughter 45 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: just as much as they had been back in Washington. Yeah, 46 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: she was a daily source of article fodder for most papers. 47 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: But before we get to talking about her time abroad, 48 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: we also have to talk about why she had once 49 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: again become central to a scandal. And to do that, 50 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: we actually have to backtrack to yet another contentious scenario 51 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: that played out in the months that Reim was finishing 52 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: her Lincoln model, because Vinnie Reem was at the center 53 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: of the post Lincoln power struggle in the United States. 54 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: In part one of this episode, we read a quote 55 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: from Vinnie Reem's recollections where she talked about listening to 56 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: all the men, many of them politicians, talk while she worked, 57 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: and she really heard it all. After Andrew Johnson became 58 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: president in the wake of Lincoln's assassination, there were a 59 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: lot of people who thought he was not strong enough 60 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: in that role. Specifically, they thought Johnson was too soft 61 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: on the Confederate States. In an interview in eighteen sixty five, 62 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: Johnson had stated, quote, there is no such thing as reconstruction. 63 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: These states have not gone out of the Union. Therefore 64 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: reconstruction is unnecessary. I do not mean to treat them 65 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: as inco it states, but merely as existing under a 66 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: temporary suspension of their government, provided always they elect loyal men. 67 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: The doctrine of coercion to preserve as and the Union 68 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: has been vindicated by the people. It is the province 69 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: of the executive to see that the will of the 70 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: people is carried out in the rehabilitation of the rebellious 71 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: states once more under the authority, as well as the 72 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: protection of the Union. So a lot of people wanted 73 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: the Confederate States to face serious consequences for the Civil War, 74 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: but Johnson really seemed to believe he was following the 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: path that Lincoln wanted a peaceful resolution after the horrible 76 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: toll of war. But in moving to allow Confederate states 77 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: to once again hold elections and send representatives to Washington 78 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: relatively quickly, he fueled a lot of problems. Many Southern states, 79 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: still reeling from the loss of the war, tended to 80 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: vote in representatives that upheld the same ideals that had 81 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: fomented the friction that led to the Civil War, they 82 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: still believed their cause was right. This is something we 83 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: touched on in our December twenty twenty episode on the 84 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: Lost Cause. So then those Congressmen brought back that tension 85 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: to Congress, and this only led to ongoing problems like 86 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: restrictive Jim Crow laws, which made it difficult to impossible 87 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: for formerly enslaved people to actually start their lives of 88 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: freedom in the states that had been part of the Confederacy. 89 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: There is so much more to the events and conflicts 90 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: of Johnson's presidency that is really outside the scope of 91 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 1: this episode. Here's how it relates to Vinny reim Though, 92 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: Republican Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, who had been in 93 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 1: favor of a complete reorganization of the Southern States, initiated 94 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: an impeachment effort against Johnson. As the vote on the 95 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: articles of impeachment loomed, the tide against convicting the president 96 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: and removing him from office started to turn. That was 97 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: something that Stevens, who was very close to the end 98 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: of his life, had been worried about, and the count 99 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: was ultimately determined by a senator from Kansas named Edmund Ross. 100 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: Edmund Ross lived as a border with the Reem family. 101 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 1: So when Ross cast the vote that meant that Johnson 102 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: would be acquitted, Fingers immediately pointed to Vinnie Reim. She 103 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: was a supporter of Johnson, and she was accused of 104 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: having swayed the Kansas senator's opinion. This also came with 105 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: the usual subtext that she was using her womanly wiles 106 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: to do so. But this catalyzed a very difficult time 107 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: for Reem. She was, as we said, nearing completion on 108 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: her Lincoln model at this time, but her studio was 109 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: abruptly taken from her under the auspices of needing the 110 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: space as a guardroom during all of these debates, but 111 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: people really thought that they were just doing it to 112 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: her as a form of retribution. She ended up having 113 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: to move her work temporarily into a hallway until yet 114 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: another debate and another vote gave her back her workspace. 115 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: So it was on the heels of once again being 116 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: portrayed as a manipulative interloper in US politics, that Reem 117 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: finished the first phase of her commission of that statue 118 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: of Abraham Lincoln and headed to Europe. It was almost 119 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: certainly a welcome opportunity to get out of DC. There's 120 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: a side story about one of Rhem's many admirers, a 121 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: Confederate brigadier general among other things, named Albert Pike, who 122 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: was much older than Vinnie. Pike is a controversial figure 123 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: in his own right, but it appears that he believed 124 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: Vinnie loved him. The two of them were close. He 125 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: was given charge of her two pet doves when she 126 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: left for Europe, but Vinnie and her parents traveled to 127 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: New York with Pike and Illinois Representative Samuel Marshall to 128 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: meet the ship that was going to take the rem 129 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: party across the Atlantic, and Reim's decision to spend some 130 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: amount of time in private with Marshall was greatly upsetting 131 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: to Pike. A letter from Pike to Reeim later said, quote, 132 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: Marshall loves you, but does not worship you as I do. 133 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: Just one more parting scandalous. She left the country and 134 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: suddenly that relationship between Reem and Pike, like a lot 135 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: of her interactions with men, is described very differently depending 136 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: on the source that you look at, ranging from him 137 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: being totally in love with her to being more of 138 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: a grandfather figure, and this is part of why her 139 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: story remains so hard to parse. It's been framed in 140 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: different ways by different biographers based on letters that Pike 141 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: wrote to Vinnie. Though he was clearly in love with 142 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: her and thought they were going to have a life together, 143 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: he wrote to her constantly while she was abroad. Keep 144 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: him in mind. He's gonna come up a little bit 145 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: later on. The Reims route to Rome was not direct. 146 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: After leaving New York on June ninth, eighteen sixty nine, 147 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: they stopped first in Liverpool, and they spent some time 148 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: in London. They next moved on to Paris by the 149 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: end of the month, and there Vinny became close friends 150 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: with General John Charles Fremont and his wife, Jesse Benton Fremont. 151 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: Through them, she met Pear Hyacinth, the very famous preacher 152 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 1: whose real name was Charles Jon Marrie Lausson, who had 153 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: been excommunicated from the Catholic Church after he spoke out 154 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: against the institution and made some incendiary speeches on the 155 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: nature of religion. Vinnie kept very busy in France, including 156 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: taking lessons with French painter Leon Bona and the Luminaries 157 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: that she met in Paris were just a taste of 158 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: what was to come in Europe. She sculpted busts or 159 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: medallions of many of these people, but she also did 160 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: a lot of shopping in Paris, so much so that 161 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: it kind of cut into her money reserves enough that 162 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: she considered altering her travel plans to omit some of 163 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: the cities they were planning to stop in, although she 164 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: did ultimately decide against making changes. Vinnie and her parents 165 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: stayed in Paris until the autumn and then moved on 166 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: to Munich. She was only in Munich for a week, 167 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: but managed to meet and sculpt painter Friedrich Kaulbach before 168 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: heading on to her next destination, which was Florence. Honestly, 169 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: this trip sounds amazing. After a couple of days in 170 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: Tuscany sh she moved on to her next destination, which 171 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: was Rome. The goal was for her Lincoln model to 172 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,839 Speaker 1: be recreated in Carrara Marble. Being in Romant, among other things, 173 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: that she was exposed to other women artists from the 174 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: US who had taken studio space in Rome, including ed 175 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,479 Speaker 1: Monia Lewis who we mentioned in episode one, Emma Strebens, 176 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: and Whitney and Harriet Hosmer. They have their own whole story. 177 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: Vinnie had varying opinions of these women, just put it 178 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: out way. Due to a mix up, Vinnie didn't have 179 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: studio space waiting as she had expected, but once she 180 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: did fine studio space, she fully decorated it and called 181 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: for her Lincoln Model to be delivered there. She also 182 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: displayed the busts she had made in Paris, and she 183 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: kept the studio open as kind of a free range 184 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 1: salon to visitors. One of her frequent visitors was previous 185 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: podcast subject franz List. At this point in his life, 186 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: Liszt was living in a convent in Rome, and so 187 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: the two of them were able to spend a lot 188 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: of time together. Vinnie described the two of them as 189 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: having an innate understanding of one another from the start. 190 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: Maybe they shared the odd burden of being so romantically 191 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: appealing to a lot of people that their lives were 192 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: often troubled by that, I'd say, also, both of them 193 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: surrounded by scandal constantly, they had some parallels to their lives. Yeah. 194 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: She wrote a description of their first meeting that is 195 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: really charming to me, And I'm gonna read that in 196 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: our behind the scenes on Okay, we will talk about 197 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: Vinnie's time in Rome after we pause for a sponsor break. 198 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: Vinnie was in Rome for several months before an adequate 199 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: piece of marble was found to recreate her Lincoln model. 200 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: There was also paperwork involved in moving the model from 201 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: Rome to Carrera. One of the biographies I read mentioned 202 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: that this legal happening had was something that the Vatican 203 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: had instituted so people weren't carrying important religious relics out 204 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: of the city without it all being documented. But and 205 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: apparently it applied to her model, even though it was 206 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: not that. Once this model was gone from her studio 207 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: and had moved on to Krera, she described feeling very lonely. 208 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: She had also promised a lot of other commissions which 209 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: she worked on in the period where the model was 210 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: out of her hands and being copied by artisans outside 211 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: the city of Rome. She produced a lot of work 212 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,119 Speaker 1: during this time. It is often considered her most artistically 213 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: fruitful period, and part of the reason for her business 214 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: and the fact that she was working so hard was 215 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: that she actually had to round up the money to 216 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: hire and pay marble cutters. She had not received that 217 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: second five thousand dollars payment from the government yet and 218 00:12:57,679 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: this was going to be a couple thousand dollars to 219 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: like for the marble and get people to cut it. 220 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: So she eventually broke heed alone with two American bankers 221 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: who were in Rome at the time, and offered after 222 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: some haggling and after they all had a brief falling 223 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: out to co sign alone with an Italian bank for her. 224 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: Once again, she met the most important people of the 225 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: city and was even invited into the private apartments of 226 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: Cardinal Antonelli in the Vatican to see his art collection. 227 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: Antonelli spent a lot of time with Vinnie and her 228 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 1: parents while they were in Rome. One of the most 229 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: famous non photographic images of Reem was also created during 230 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 1: this time. She was sculpted and painted by a lot 231 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: of artists in her lifetime, but American portrait painter George 232 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: Peter Alexander Healy was living in Rome at the time, 233 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: and after the two of them became friends, he made 234 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: a portrait of her. She's dressed as a woman from 235 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: the Italian countryside and holding a guitar. We mentioned in 236 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: Part one that Reim had taught herself guitar at an 237 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: earth early age, So while this costume and the portrait 238 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: is really not her style, the guitar was an apt propped. 239 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: That painting is now in the collection of the Smithsonian. 240 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: Throughout her stay in Rome, Vinnie often traveled to Kreera 241 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: to oversee the progress on the Lincoln Marble. This was 242 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: not a small trip today, getting to Krera from Rome 243 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: takes more than four hours by car. She had selected 244 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: the marble works at the end of May eighteen seventy. 245 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: That project was completed in September, so it only took 246 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: a few months for it to be carved. After inspecting it, 247 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: she had it sent to the port city of Livorno, 248 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: which was called Leghorn by English speakers at the time. 249 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: While she had to hasten an exit from Rome due 250 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: to the city being overrun during the Franco Prussian War, 251 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: she and her parents went to Vienna until things had 252 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: settled down, and then they returned to Rome to pack 253 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: their things and their many acquisitions from their year in 254 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: change living abroad and head home. Vinnie did manage to 255 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: fit in. One last European romance was George Brondez, who 256 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: would become a famous Danish critic, but after a little 257 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: more than two weeks the pair had to part. It 258 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: was time to show Washington the statue. When the Lincoln 259 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: statue got to Washington, d C. It was placed in 260 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: the capital rotunda, but it remained covered under a tent. 261 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: The feet of the statue were visible, and they were 262 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: reported on. It was first inspected by the Secretary of 263 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: the Interior, James Delano, who deemed it quote completed to 264 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: my entire satisfaction. While write ups and reviews based on 265 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: the day of that inspection were already in the papers, 266 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: the formal public unveiling took place on the evening of Wednesday, 267 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: January twenty fifth, eighteen seventy one. As the statue was unveiled, 268 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: a band played Hail to the Chief. Based on a 269 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: lot of descriptions, this sounds like a triumphant night. Overall, 270 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: the early reception was very positive, but over time critics 271 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: took a less enthusiastic view of the work. They called 272 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: it the like dull and lifeless. But Vinnie Reim had 273 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: delivered the promised marble statue. Yeah, I think that's one 274 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: of those beauty is in the eye of the beholder moments. 275 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: As we know I mean, many of us have seen 276 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: this statue. I think it's lovely. I couldn't make it. 277 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: But simply by being back in the limelight, Vinnie Reim 278 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: was once again the talk of seemingly every newspaper in 279 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: the country, with wildly polarized writeups about her. Her supporters 280 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: were a bullion and praise her Marble Lincoln as a 281 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: perfect representation of the man in form and attitude. Because 282 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: she had made good on her commission, her detractors couldn't 283 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: claim that they were worried she was too young in 284 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: inexperience to be given such an opportunity, so instead they 285 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: just turned full sale into accusations that she had garnered 286 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: her opportunity through sexual relations with older men who in 287 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: turn did her favors. And in the midst of all 288 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: this post unveiling press, Raim met Charles Francis Hall and 289 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: Emil Bessels, who were preparing for the Polaris expedition to 290 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: the North Pole, on which Hall would die. When we 291 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: talked about this possible love triangle in our episode about Hall, 292 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: the information related to him and ship's doctor Bessels made 293 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: it sound like Bessels may have flown into a rage 294 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: on the journey after learning that Hall and Reim might 295 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: have had some kind of romance. But biographies of Reem 296 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: characterize this love triangle somewhat differently. According to the biography 297 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: Labor of Love, written by Glen V. Sherwood and published 298 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,399 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety seven, quote, during the summer of eighteen 299 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: seventy one, she received letters from doctor Emil Bessels and 300 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: the explorer CF. Hall from Greenland. The men were leading 301 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: an expedition to the North Pole. They hung a picture 302 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: of the Lincoln Statue in Hall's cabin aboard the polaris. 303 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: The men requested Vinie's autograph on two flags and promised 304 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: to name an island after her. That really makes it 305 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: seem like both of these men were friendly with her, 306 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: more like they were a group of acquaintances than having 307 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: like a love triangle. A bit of additional light is 308 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: shed by the two thousand and four biography Vinnie Reem, 309 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: an American sculptor, by Edward S. Cooper. In Cooper's account, 310 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: Reeve dined several times with Hall and Bessels together while 311 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: they were all in New York. Not long after the 312 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: unveiling of the Lincoln statue. Vinnie had decided to leave 313 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,959 Speaker 1: Washington and set up a studio there. Per the Cooper biography, quote, 314 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: Hall enjoyed Vinnie's company, but Bessels became infatuated with her. 315 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: There is also an excerpt of a letter that Bessels 316 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: wrote her in that book that does indeed sound like 317 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: a man infatuated. He mentions, quote thinking of you all 318 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: the time and anticipating the pleasure of seeing you. None 319 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: of this really helped solve the mystery of Charles Francis 320 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: Hall's death, but it does fill in some details. So 321 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: we noted in our earlier episode the theory that Bessels 322 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,439 Speaker 1: was jealous of Hall's relationship with Reem and that that 323 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: may have been what led him to murder. Still no 324 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: obvious evidence, especially when it's also not really clear how 325 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: Vinnie Reem felt about either of these men. But the 326 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,719 Speaker 1: whole of their friendships are romances are just a blip 327 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,639 Speaker 1: in Reim's life. In each of these biographies, I'm talking 328 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: like a couple paragraphs. There's not much about this whole thing. 329 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: She just didn't know them for long at all before 330 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: they left for their expedition. As Vinnie was trying to 331 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: carve out a life for herself in New York. Her 332 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: brother turned up with a problem. During the Civil War, 333 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 1: he had surrendered to Union troops and had been released 334 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: several weeks later, and then he's alleged to have lived 335 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: with the Choctaw tribe. Then he popped up again in 336 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two after being arrested for larceny in Arkansas, 337 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,959 Speaker 1: and he was charged with selling alcohol to Native Americans. 338 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: He was only found guilty on the second charge, but 339 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,719 Speaker 1: the sentence was six months of prison time and one 340 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: thousand dollars fine. He immediately went to his famous sister 341 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: for help, hoping she could leverage some of her political 342 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: contacts to get him out of this jam. She tried 343 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: to get him a pardon, but was not able to Uh. 344 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: This was maybe some proof that her influence was already 345 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: starting to lag. Her Washington Heyday seemed to have peaked 346 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: and fallen already. And she was twenty five. Yeah, so 347 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,919 Speaker 1: young to have lived all of the life we have 348 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: already talked about, right, But her brother Bob's arrest was 349 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: not her only problem. She had a pretty real cash 350 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: flow issue at this time. Her fame was such a 351 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: mixed bag that it seemed to drive away as many 352 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: possible patrons as it attracted, and in some cases, sales 353 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: of the works that she had created, like her sculpture 354 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: of Saffo, fell through. She made the decision to leave 355 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: New York and move back to Washington in the hopes 356 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: that she would have better luck there in a city 357 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: where at least she knew a lot of people, and 358 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: this did work out to some degree. She famously sculpted 359 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: a bust of Custer in eighteen seventy six, not long 360 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: before his death, in the area that would become Montana. 361 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy five, Vinnie Reim entered two competitions for 362 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: monument commissions. The first was for a statue of Union 363 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,159 Speaker 1: Major General George Henry Thomas. She did not win, and 364 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 1: the commission instead went to John Quincy Adams Ward, who 365 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: had a well established career in monument statuary. The second 366 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: competition was for the commission from the US government to 367 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: memorialize Admiral David G. Farragut in bronze. There were a 368 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: lot of prominent names in the mix try to win 369 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: this commission, including William Westmore Story and John Quincy Adams Ward. 370 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: Reems won this time. There had been a bit of 371 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: lobbying again, but it had a more personal tone. Farragut's widow, 372 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: Virginia Dorcas Loyal Farragut, was a fan of Vinnie's work 373 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: and endorsed her as the best candidate, and also helped 374 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: get a lot of prominent and powerful people to do 375 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: the same thing. When the busts of the competitors were 376 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: all displayed together for judging, Vinnie fared better than her 377 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: competitors and was granted this twenty thousand dollars commission. She 378 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: conferred often with Missus Farragut as she worked on this likeness. 379 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: The bronze that was used to cast Farragut was recycled. 380 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: It had been one of the propellers for the admiral's flagship, 381 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: the USS Hartford. Coming up, we will meet the man 382 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: who finally got the much pursued Vinnie reim to settle down, 383 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: and we will dig into their relationship after we pause 384 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: for one more sponsor break. As she was working on 385 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: the Farragut commission, re met Richard Leverage Hawxy through Farragut's son, 386 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: who was named Loyal and Loyal One day brought Hoxey 387 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: who was a first lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers, 388 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: to visit while she was working. Hoxy was very handsome 389 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: and he was very tall. His height was a sharp 390 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: contrast to Vinnie's very petite frame. We haven't talked about it, 391 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 1: but she was a very tiny woman. She was a 392 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: less than five feet tall, and most accounts say she 393 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,879 Speaker 1: never weighed more than about ninety pounds. She was very little, 394 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: and Hoxy was, like so many other men, very taken 395 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: with her. As Vinnie and Richard started to spend a 396 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 1: great deal of time together, tongue started wagging about a 397 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: romance between the two, and this time they were not wrong. 398 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: But this caused a whole other problem, which was at 399 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: Albert Pike, who we mentioned earlier was nearing seventy was 400 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,200 Speaker 1: still in love with Vinnie, and he started to write 401 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,200 Speaker 1: her some very jealous letters. When Richard proposed around the 402 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,400 Speaker 1: same time Vinnie finished the Farragut Statue, she accepted. The 403 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,440 Speaker 1: engagement was announced in April eighteen seventy eight, and they 404 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: were married the following month. On May twenty eighth, General Sherman, 405 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: and not Vinnie's father, gave the bride away and Richard 406 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: did not choose his best man Vinnie did. It was 407 00:23:55,480 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: Albert Pike, which, yes, seems like an odd choice favor 408 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: of the narrative that his love for her was more paternal. 409 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: That's maybe not as weird. But he literally wrote her 410 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: letters about how he couldn't bear knowing another man had 411 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: kissed her. So Albert's daughter Lillian and Vinnie's sister Mary 412 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: were the bridesmaids. Yeah, this was a weird one to me. 413 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: We'll talk about him on the Buy the Saints. I 414 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: was like, okay, I like texted my best friend about 415 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: it because I wanted to talk it through and be like, 416 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,679 Speaker 1: I'm not being irrational here. This is very odd. She's like, 417 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: it is completely weird. Great. After their very lavish wedding, 418 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,199 Speaker 1: Vinnie and Richard went to Iowa for two weeks to 419 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: honeymoon on his family's land there, and then back in Washington, 420 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: the pair settled down into a home near Farragut Square. 421 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: It was right by where her completed statue would eventually 422 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 1: be installed. Vinnie had once again campaigned to get what 423 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 1: she wanted, which was a commission for her new husband 424 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: that would keep him in Washington, d C. Instead of 425 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: station somewhere else. He was made assistant commissioner in the 426 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: Corps with an office in DC. At this point, Vinnie's 427 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: art career was for a while victim of the social 428 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,199 Speaker 1: standards of the time. Once she got married, she was 429 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 1: expected to stay home and care for the household and 430 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: her husband and not to have a career. This was 431 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: something that Richard felt was the correct path. She did 432 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: not need money. Richard was quite wealthy. He did not 433 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 1: see any need for her to work, so after the 434 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: Farragut Statue was dedicated in eighteen eighty one, she stopped 435 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,719 Speaker 1: sculpting really for decades. This wasn't something she just agreed to. 436 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: She did pursue other commissions after Farragut, but they all 437 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 1: kind of sputtered out. Meanwhile, her husband told her very 438 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: frankly that her behavior often embarrassed him, and he worried 439 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: that her bad press would impede his career. Vinnie and 440 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: Richard had a son, Richard Riemhaxi, on June sixth, eighteen 441 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: eighty three. The years that followed were very difficult for her. 442 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,160 Speaker 1: Many of the people that she had known in Washington 443 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: had died. The circle of her influence shranked to almost nothingness, 444 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: and then Richard was transferred first to Alabama, a move 445 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: she dreaded and was deeply saddened by, and then to 446 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh and eventually to Portland, Maine. And then her son 447 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 1: was seriously injured at the age of six when another 448 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: child shot him in the head with an air rifle. 449 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: He had a pellet lodged in his skull, and though 450 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: there was a slim chance that an operation could remove it, 451 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: that operation would have been highly risky, and Vinnie and 452 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: Richard decided against the surgery, and their son was developmentally disabled. 453 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 1: Then Vinnie had about of what she called heart trouble. 454 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 1: This appears to have been a heart attack. She also 455 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: had kidney issues. Her doctors diagnosed her with suppression of feeling. 456 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: Wanting to work all of those years and not being 457 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: able to had caused her a great deal of sadness 458 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: and stress, and this seemed to manifest in a decline 459 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: in her physical health. Richard was frightened by this incident 460 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 1: and had part of their home converted into a studio 461 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: and told her she could start working again. She did 462 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: want to work, but she did not want to participate 463 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: in any more competitions. It seems like she knew like one, 464 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: she was too established to feel like she should have 465 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,439 Speaker 1: to do that. In two. That whole thing came with 466 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: its own stress and all the lobbying that had to 467 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: be done. So she came up with an interesting approach 468 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,120 Speaker 1: to finding new work. She found out which states did 469 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,400 Speaker 1: not have representation in the capital Statuary Hall, and then 470 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,880 Speaker 1: she started asking politicians from those states if they would 471 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: like one. She first approached Iowa. This made sense because 472 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,400 Speaker 1: Richard's family was from there, and in nineteen oh seven 473 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: she was given a contract to create a sculpture of 474 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 1: Samuel Kirkwood, former governor of Iowa. She similarly reached out 475 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: to Oklahoma about possibly creating a statue of Sequoia, who's 476 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: credited with inventing the Cherokee alphabet. Reim had made a 477 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,679 Speaker 1: bust of Sequoia decades earlier, and managed to get another 478 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: contract with Oklahoma, this time to make a full size 479 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,239 Speaker 1: statue starting in nineteen twelve. She was still working on 480 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: this in the fall of nineteen fourteen when she collapsed 481 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,919 Speaker 1: while preparing to travel from Iowa to Washington. That happened 482 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,719 Speaker 1: in September, and Richard rushed her to Washington DC for treatment. 483 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: She had chronic nephritis and died on November twentieth. She 484 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: was sixty seven. Vinnie Reim was buried in Arlington Cemetery 485 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:35,120 Speaker 1: under a bronze casting of her Sappho sculpture. Her Sequoia 486 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: statue was finished by another artist, George Jay Zulnay, and 487 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: it was installed in Statuary Hall, where her sculpture of 488 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: Kirkwood is also housed. Reem's Lincoln Statue, the first full 489 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: size sculpture of him ever created, remains in the Capitol 490 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: Building rotunda to this day. Richard remarried and his son 491 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: with Vinnie was placed in a sanatorium. In the years 492 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: after Vinnie's death, her husband also donated Vinnie's papers and 493 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: remained works to various museums. Yes, that is how we 494 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: have the that portrait of her that had been made 495 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: when she was in Rome. Heally had sent it to 496 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: her and then Hoxy donated it to the Smithsonian, and 497 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: that's how they have it. Basically everywhere, almost everywhere I 498 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: looked at like stuff that had been you know, her 499 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: papers or whatever it always said, like donated by Richard Doxy, 500 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: right no matter where it was. She lived so much 501 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: life I feel like if you are a fan of 502 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: Vinny Reim, we've left stuff out. There's no way not to. 503 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: She was the busiest bee on the planet and all 504 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: up in everybody's business. So she just was part of 505 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff. But she was also a pretty 506 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: impressive artist. I personally do not understand all of the 507 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: criticisms of her work. I think her work is lovely, 508 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: So what do I know? But I do have listener mail. Okay, 509 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: this is from our listener, Rebecca, who writes a little again. 510 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: I'm again, So I just listened to the April twenty 511 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: twenty three episode on Eponymous Drinks. I'm close in age 512 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: to you both, but I grew up in a very 513 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: different part of the country Hudson Valley, New York, which 514 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: city people think is upstate, but the rest of the 515 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: state does not. So I always find it interesting when 516 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: we have very different experiences of things. I do not 517 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: remember my first Shirley Temple. By the time my childhood 518 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: memories begin, it was already a well established tradition that 519 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: when we went out to eat at the fancy place, 520 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: a sit down Chinese Polymnesian restaurant, my brother would get 521 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: a brown cow and I would get a Shirley Temple, 522 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: but where we went it was always made with ginger ale. 523 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: Until your podcast, I did not even know there was 524 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: a lemon lime soda version. When we made them at home, 525 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: where we generally did not have grenadine, we would use 526 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: the Marischino cherry liquid in place of the grenadine. I 527 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: also apparently completely missed the negronw spagliato thing, having never 528 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 1: heard of one before this podcast. Part of me is like, 529 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: thank your lucky stars, just because it got so contentious. 530 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 1: Maybe if you're on like Bartender two. I am, however, 531 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 1: a big fan of Negroni. I was surprised to hear 532 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: the cocktail queen Holly is not a fan, so I'm 533 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: not the queen. I'm just a mere peasant in cocktail land, 534 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: but I sure love them. Is not a fan, especially 535 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: having heard her wax rapsodic about bitters. I was only 536 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: introduced to campari relatively recently at a tasting five to 537 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: six years ago, and started looking up cocktails made with it, 538 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: and of course found the Negroni. I listened to the 539 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: episode on my way to a spa retreat with my BFF, 540 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: who first introduced me to your podcast about ten years ago, 541 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: so of course I had to get a Negronie. Their 542 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: version is called not Your Father's Negrony, and replaced the 543 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: regular gin with rose gin and added a sprinkle of 544 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: rose petals. The rose was very forefront, then it mellowed 545 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: to the spices of the campari. Okay, this version I 546 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: would probably have, and I think I'm gonna try that. 547 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: By the way, my thought on the name Nigroni is 548 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: that it's possible that the drink was named after General 549 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: Pascal Olivier de Negroni. Point out there is a timeline 550 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: issue with him creating the drink, but it doesn't seem 551 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: beyond possibility that a stronger version of an existing drink 552 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: could be named after a military hero. But really, we'll 553 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: probably never know. Hope Aul is well attached. Is a 554 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: rare picture of my monsters cuddled together. Although Jack and 555 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: Charlie have been together since they were six and eighteen 556 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: months old, respectively, they don't often snuggle with each other. 557 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: They are twelve and thirteen pounds of trouble and more trouble, 558 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: but I love them anyway. I hope all is well, 559 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 1: and keep up with the wonderful work. Okay, I love all 560 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: of this. First of all, this is a great idea 561 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: for a negronie. Actually, I love rose flavored everything, especially 562 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 1: in cocktails, so I'm one hundred percent gonna infuse some 563 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: gin with roses and see if I can make something 564 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: close to this. Second, these kiddies are real cute. They 565 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: look orange. It's a little bit dim in the picture, 566 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: but they both look like you know, creamsicle babies, which 567 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,239 Speaker 1: probably means that they are goofballs, and I hope they 568 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: are because I love an orange tabby. They are the nuttiest, 569 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: cuddliest goof feest cats usually. I love it if you 570 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,120 Speaker 1: would like to write to us and share your thoughts 571 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: on drinks or history or drink history, and share your 572 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: pictures of animals any animals will do. We would love 573 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: to hear them or read them. I guess that address 574 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 1: is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 575 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: find us on social media as missed in History and 576 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: if you listen to the podcast and haven't subscribed yet, 577 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: very easy to do in the iHeartRadio app or anywhere 578 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 579 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 580 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 581 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.