Lincoln Portrait that Makes Cents

Check out this video!

Museum Monday: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Teaching Sculpture, & Vinnie Ream

Learning About Sculpture

Ten years ago, I was visiting my mother who had moved to Salt Lake City. One of the biggest art events of the year was a traveling exhibit of Rodin sculpture (The Hands of Rodin) and the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University in Provo was one of the stops.

As a native New Yorker whose mother took me to visit the great museums of New York City and eventually enrolled me in a Saturday art appreciation class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I learned to regard the human form as an artistic expression. Rodin became one of my favorites and I remember well the iconic Thinker and The Kiss.

Unclothed or scantly clothed statues and bas-reliefs are everywhere in New York! Rockefeller Center is chock full of them! Even churches and civic centers display the nude. My first introduction to anatomically correct sculpture is the famous work by Frederick MacMonnies, Civic Virtue next to Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens across from where we often caught the bus or subway. (And across from the site of the hospital where I was born - now a shiny office building.)

Most people in New York walk by the public art and hardly notice it. (Interestingly enough attempts to cover up so-called offensive art can have the opposite effect as demonstrated in this article.)

My mother and I traveled to the exhibit and it was surprising to find out that the larger Rodin statues were not part of the exhibit at BYU. In fact, after visiting their museum, there wasn’t one ounce of art that had any nudity in it. When I inquired, I was told that such art was indecent. I wouldn’t have categorized The Thinker (which was not part of the exhibit) or the Monument to Balzac (which was to be part of the exhibit) as indecent or erotic. The Kiss, admittedly, could be interpreted in several ways, but I had only thought of its beauty.

While the Latter Day Saints, BYU policy, other religious groups, and families certainly have a right to their opinions, (and please understand that I am a modest dresser and I abhor some of the excesses in our society), I wondered how they, especially their children, reacted to the art that they have encountered in museums, parks, on buildings, in government offices, and courts throughout the country and around the world? How do they deal with them when they come across photos in textbooks and reference books? How do they prepare their children when they venture into the world?

Recently, one of my groups took a themed tour concerning mythological and allegorical illusions in art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The NGA had warned the teacher that there would be nudity. Although it was a Lutheran school, the Principal thought that by learning about the human form from elderly docents, it would take the ‘shock value’ out of it and lead to a greater understanding of art and the classical world.

I floated amongst the groups and the questions being asked by the students were respectful and considerate. There was no snickering or finger pointing; they were beginning to recognize the concepts and virtues depicted. The reaction of these students affirmed that through education a better understanding of art and the human body is possible and beneficial.

How can one study ancient, primitive, or contemporary history and culture without a study of this type of art?

What I think we need to do is to prepare our children by teaching appreciation, context, and discernment, rather than censorship.
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Vinnie Ream Hoxie

The Museum Monday photo was taken by me during a recent visit to the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was looking down from the Etruscan gallery and noticed a young lady who was sketching. Her straight posture and intense expression gave dignity to her work. I doubt whether she regarded this statue as indecent; quite the opposite. It is obvious that she sees the beauty in anatomy and the skill of the ancient sculptor. (And it also seems that another statue is looking over her shoulder watching the progress of the drawing!) It was a reminder of my sketching days over forty years ago.

Watching this young woman also reminded me of the story of Vinnie Ream (Hoxie), a sculptress in the time when it was considered to be a scandalous and inappropriate profession for a woman. (after all, they had to learn to draw anatomy, the same rationale that kept women from the medical profession.). She was initially taught drawing by the Winnebago Indians, who didn't suffer from Victorian sensibilities, and apprenticed under Benjamin Paul Akers and Clark Mills. Undoubtedly, she had learned anatomy in preparation for sculpting statues. However, through her talent, support of sculptors, Congressmen, and Abraham Lincoln, she ended up being the first woman and youngest sculptor to be granted a commission by the government. President Lincoln had heard of her humble circumstances and had decided to allow the teenager to sketch him for a bust. Vinnie Ream spent a half hour per day for five months sketching the president and it was to change her life. After his assassination, the eighteen year old won the commission over better-known sculptors to produce a full-length statue of Abraham Lincoln. In order to complete the statue, she was given the clothes he was wearing that fateful night to measure. (What thoughts must have run through her mind!) That statue still stands in an honored position in the Capitol Rotunda.

Unfortunately, scandal did follow the petite, five-foot, ninety-pound beauty who was described as a charmer with a gleaming smile. She somehow was accused of influencing ( by using her feminine wiles) Senator Edmund Ross (R-Oklahoma), a boarder in her family’s house, to cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. In fact, the teenager managed to detain the Republicans’ emissary, Dan Sickles, who had come to persuade Ross to cast his vote for the impeachment. According to accounts, she used tea and song (she sang well) to delay and confound Sickles! The rest, as the say, is history!

Vinnie Ream pioneered the way for other women sculptors such as Evelyn Beatrice Longman and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. (Tour Marm posting) and perhaps that young woman pictured sketching in the Met.

(You can read more Vinnie Ream in a recent biography and there is also a video for sale concerning her statue of Lincoln and a script of the video, so you can check the content before ordering.)

Museum Monday Answer: Lincoln's Coat, Ford's Theatre, & Brooks Brothers

"To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest quality, to sell it at a fair profit, and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise."

Lincoln's Coat

It wasn’t that I didn’t like the show, I had seen it a couple of times. It was just that I hadn’t had a day off in three weeks, was exhausted from the day, and needed some ‘down time’. So while my group was upstairs in the theatre watching, Meet John Doe, I slipped down to the basement museum and decided to take photos of the exhibits to test my camera’s abilities and to take advantage of the empty space. Normally I find the museum terribly claustrophobic and wait outside on the sidewalk to gather the students for our Peterson House (the house where Lincoln died) visit.

But tonight I was alone! It was my night in the museum!

How was I to know that on June 1^st, Ford’s Theatre was supposed to close for eighteen months to update and reinforce their theatre as well as install a much-needed elevator? The museum was not really accessible since the chair lift rarely worked. Those who were physically challenged never got the chance to see the displays of his life, campaign, impact on the country, the assassination and its aftermath, the artistic depictions of Lincoln, the history of the theatre, or to measure themselves against him. How the museum might change, I have no idea. But it does need some spiffing –up!

Ford’s Theatre is Closed! (Nope! Stop the Presses! Ford's Theatre reopened June 30th for the summer due to the fact that construction was not able to start as planned. But the Christmas Carol is in doubt, and there will be no spring season American musical in 2008.)

When Ford's Theatre does close, this posting might be the only place to see the lining of the coat Lincoln was wearing the night he was assassinated. It had been made for his second inaugural and worn by him during that ceremony. The lining was quilted to keep him warm. The message was a tribute to a man who was trying to keep the Union intact. This message reflected the affection and esteem of those who tailored the coat; the workmanship, though subtle and planned to be hidden, is breathtaking!

For several years, I had my students look closely at the lining detail of the quilted coat and read ‘the secret message’. This was a particularly fascinating exhibit to them as it also displayed the Derringer and knife used by John Wilkes Booth; the door with the small hole bored into it, that separated the balcony from the small space before one could enter the box; and the piece of wood that Booth would eventually wedge into the door to making it impossible to open by the rescuers from the audience side.

When the surgeon finally entered the box to examine the President, he initially thought that Lincoln had been shot in the back and cut through the coat lengthwise, only to discover that the President had been shot in the head.

My loyal readers already know the contents of the President’s pockets the explanation and rock song, The items in his pockets were bequeathed to the Library of Congress. There are other assassination relics and modern science is being used to investigate these. The Chicago Historical Society Northwestern University has a fascinating site concerning all the events and relics of the assassination, it is called Wet With Blood! www.chicagohs.org/wetwithblood/ (It's not allowing me to copy the link/address.)

But this post is not about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; it is about the tailors of the coat, Brooks Brothers.

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My Love Affair With Brooks Brothers:

Having been raised in New York City, I was well aware of the venerable, and somewhat stuffy reputation of Brooks Brothers. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit probably had it tailored at Brooks Brothers. Scions of industry, power brokers, those in the Social Register, and Presidents have routinely had their clothes made by Brooks Brothers since 1818. It is our Savile Row.

When I first started my business career at the tender age of seventeen, it was the early ‘70’s and psychedelic polyester fabrics were in. My mother indicated that this was unacceptable for the workplace and if I wanted to succeed I should head over to Brooks Brothers to buy a suit, blazer, blouses, shirts, shoes, and several silk Foulard power ties. (It was on the cusp of dress-for-success which de-feminized women in order to fit into the men’s business world, so the pearls and pearl earrings were importan1 accessories for me, as well as lipstick.)

But I soon realized that the clothes, though conservative, were well-made, always in good taste, and lasted through the vagaries of fashion. A Brooks Brothers customer is normally one of wealth who views conspicuous consumption as being vulgar. Their clothes are innocuous and make the statement that one prefers quality over trendiness. A khaki skirt and an oxford cloth blouse are always serviceable, especially with a ribbon belt. There was a sense of personal stability; that one was not a slave to fashion; but that in a way, it is its own fashion statement. And similar to the Hat and Pearls (which were required accessories), I could be received anywhere.

It’s a simple way to dress. It's classic.

As I remember, the salespeople at Brooks Brothers had always been exceedingly helpful and gracious, especially to a seventeen-year-old during her first solo shopping experience with hard-earned money. Being a salesperson at Brooks Brothers was a respected profession. They were ladies and gentleman with a refined sense of taste. They came from all walks of life. In fact, in the early 1980’s, two of the Brooks Brothers in Washington, DC could boast members of the Afghan royal family who had been displaced by the Soviet invasion of their country. (My friend, a loyal Brooks Brothers customer, who was on TDY at Headquarters Marine Corps, actually invited one of the brothers and his wife to dinner! I was to act as hostess. Mr. Suleiman’s patrician wife was charming, but spoke no English, so I tried my French (which she spoke fluently) and became ashamed of my poor ability to communicate.)

On my tours, I point out sites that may not constitute a monument, memorial, or a museum, but nevertheless played a part in American history. My students love shopping, and I think that the stories of great American stores such as Macy's and Brooks Brothers should be a part of their education. (We can add others such as Sears and the belated Woolworth's to that list.) Fashion and merchandising is part of the cultural and economic heritage of this nation. The Lincoln coat is just one example of a connection one can make through these discoveries. Perhaps I'll be responsible for creating new customers!

As you can tell, Brooks Brothers has a place of affection in my life and it was great sadness that I stood at the cauldron of what was the World Trade Center and realized that their Wall Street store at One Liberty Plaza (across the street) had also been damaged. Could it survive this calamity?

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A Short History of Brooks Brothers:

The Story of Brooks Brothers started in 1818, when Henry Sands Brooks opened a haberdashery near South Street Seaport, a bustling area which would attract merchants, seaman, investors, and wealthy landowners. Brooks’ four sons eventually took over the store which had prospered enough to move several times throughout their tenure to keep the store in the most fashionable and profitable districts.

The longevity of Brooks Brothers salesmen is indeed legendary; Frank Webb attended to five generations of Morgans, starting with their progenitor, J.P.! Mr. Webb remained with the firm for sixty-five years! Many employees stayed for over 50 years!

The statistics below came from the Brooks Brother website and full explanations of the fashion innovations are explained there.

THE PRESIDENTS:

At his second inauguration, Abraham Lincoln wore a magnificent coat specially crafted for him by Brooks Brothers. Hand stitched into the coat's lining was an intricate design featuring an eagle and the inscription, "One Country, One Destiny." Sadly, it was also the coat Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated at Ford's Theater.

Ulysses S. Grant began his association with Brooks Brothers during the Civil War, when he ordered tailored uniforms for the Union officers.

Theodore Roosevelt wore a Brooks Brothers military uniform in his famous march up San Juan Hill.

Herbert Hoover preferred Brooks Brothers henley undershirts.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was frequently seen in a great cape specially made by Brooks Brothers for the U.S. Navy.

John F. Kennedy popularized Brooks Brothers' fashionable two-button suit when he wore it at his inauguration. Two-button Brooks suits were also favored by Gerald Ford and George Bush.

No pun intended, but Richard Nixon was an admirer of the "Brooksgate" clothing collection, a special tailored line designed for the young executive.

Bill Clinton has been seen sporting Brooks Brothers casual wear, including a leather bomber jacket he wore the day following his election as President in 1992.

PROMINENT CITIZENS:

Generations of Astors, Goulds, Vanderbilts and Rockefellers have shopped at Brooks Brothers.

After completing his first expedition to the South Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd wired Brooks to make him the appropriate dress uniforms to be ready for his first public appearance.

When aviator Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris without luggage after his historic trans-Atlantic flight, Ambassador Myron T. Herrick loaned him a Brooks Brothers suit. Upon his return to the United States, Lindbergh was welcomed to New York by the greatest ticker-tape parade in the city's history. The custom clothing department at Brooks Brothers worked all night making the suit which Lindbergh wore that day.


CELEBRITIES:*

Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Errol Flynn, Rudy Vallee and John Barrymore were some of the best-dressed men of their time, and all were Brooks Brothers customers.

Fred Astaire was fond of wearing Brooks Repp neckties as belts.

The Duke of Windsor, one of history's most famous dandies, preferred Brooks Brothers dressing gowns.

Clark Gable, splendidly proportioned with a 44-inch chest and 32-inch waist, had his suits made to order at Brooks Brothers. He was generally unable to wear ready-made clothing, except for Brooks Brothers button-down Polo collar shirts.

Boxer Jack Dempsey's slender feet required fine cordovan leather Peal shoes.

Jack Kerouac, the counter-culture icon of the "beat" generation, favored the comfort of Brooks Brothers' button-down Polo collar oxford shirts.

Katherine Hepburn, one of the first Hollywood starlets to don trousers, headed to Brooks Brothers for her tailoring.

Fran Liebowitz has demonstrated an affinity for Brooks Brothers Shetland sweaters and button-down Polo collar shirts.

Designer Todd Oldham favors Brooks Brothers white button-down Polo collar shirts, while Vogue has reported that Brooks Brothers is designer Mark Jacobs' favorite store.

Matthew Broderick and Chris O'Donnell are fans and favor classics like Brooks cashmere sweaters.

Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear and the cast of Spin City headed to Brooks' Fifth Avenue store to celebrate their 1999 season premiere.

Queen Latifah and 25 other hip hop artists wear Brooks Brothers suits on her new album, The Takeover.

Sir Paul McCartney frequently stops by the Fifth Avenue store to do some shopping.

Other recent celebrity sightings include James Gandolfini, Jon Voight, Barry Bostwick, Greg Kinnear, Molly Ringwald, Kevin Bacon, and Scott Wolf.

Brooks Brothers is frequently sought out by costume designers and worn by celebrities in major films, including Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor, Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums, and Will Smith in Ali.

Brooks Brothers is the official clothier of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with artistic director Wynton Marsalis. The orchestra tours the United States wearing Brooks Brothers three-button suits paired with colorful shirts and repp stripe ties.

Here is a list of Brooks Brothers fashion innovations:*

1830 Seersucker

1845 Ready-Made Suits

1865 Abraham Lincoln's Legendary Coat

1890 The Silk Foulard Necktie

1895 The Sack Suit

1896 The Button-Down Polo Collar Shirt

1904 The Shetland Sweater

1910 The Polo Coat

1920 The Repp Tie

1920 Madras

1930 Light-Weight Summer Suits

1930 Three-Button Suits

1938 Colored Shetland Sweaters

1949 The Pink Shirt For Women (Think Pink!)

1949 Argyle Socks

1950 The Brooks Boxer (!)

1953 Wash & Wear

1961 The Two-Button Suit

1963 Brooks Brothers Toiletries

1963 BrooksEase, The Ultimate Travel Suit

1968 150 Years And The No. Three Suit

1972 BrooksKnit

1976 Brooksgate

1980 Preppy Style Revival

1992 The Wardrobe Collection

1994 Soft Classics

1995 The BrooksEase Wardrobe Collection

1998 The Brooks Jazz CD Collection (!)

1998 BrooksEase Shirt

2001 BrooksStorm

2001 Digital Tailoring

2007 Black Fleece (Thom Browne designer)

Did I forget to mention that Thom Browne worked for Ralph Lauren, who started out at Brooks Brothers and made the term 'Polo' famous?

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As you can see, Brooks Brothers, although perceived to be conservative, has also been an innovator in merchandising and American fashion. While I was appalled that Brooks Brothers started to sell designer jeans, I realized that one must go with the times. However, I am not very impressed with their current line, Black Fleece that seems to make men look like Peewee Herman. (Please see fashion show on Black Fleece link.)

On September 11, 2002 Brooks Brothers quietly reopened their One Liberty Place store. There was a sense of continuity, stability, and renewal.

I was there.

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Much of the information for this article was gleaned from three articles on Brooks Brothers, they seemed to be the best of the many resources I consulted:

Business Spotlight; Brooks Brothers

History, innovations, and list of clients

The Man in the Browne Flannel Suit

For more information on Brooks Brothers, please consult their website.

For information concerning the new plans for Ford’s Theatre or the assassination, please consult the National Park Service Website.

Figure It Out Friday #4 - Answer

Springfield, Illinois 1846

Pictured: Top: James and Margaret Reed. Bottom: Abraham and Mary Lincoln

One of the companies I work with is located in Truckee, CA, at the opposite end of Donner Lake from the monument to the Donner Party. It's a major historic site for 4th and 5th grade student fieldtrips from California and Nevada. Most students west of the Mississippi know the details of the Donner Party through the story of Patty Reed's doll.


I've been able to visit the monument (which was pictured in the FIOF) and modest museum during all four seasons. The winter is beautiful, but brutal; the snow can become so deep that it covers the bottom windows of the office for a couple of months. I could readily understand the plight of the stranded members of the party.


Since I'm from the East Coast, the Donner Party was perhaps a paragraph or footnote in our school texts. Today, the Donner Party is the butt of many jokes. But after standing knee deep near one of the reconstructed cabins and imagining their plight, this was no joking matter.

The purpose of this Figure It Out Friday is not the story of the Donner Party, but to point out the connection between Abraham Lincoln and James Reed.

Where were these people from and when did they leave their safe homes?


The answer is , Springfield, Illinois in 1846.


That certainly rang a bell since I've been working on Lincoln Bicentennial student trips for 2009.


Springfield was founded in 1819 and made the county seat of Sangamon County in 1823. Springfield received its city charter in 1840 and made the capital of Illinois in 1837. The Legislature convened here for the first time in 1839.

Did Lincoln know any of the members of the Donner Party?


Yes, he certainly knew James Reed and his family.


Abraham Lincoln and James Reed had both served together during the American Blackhawk War of 1832, when Lincoln served as a Captain in Jacob Early's militia. Other members of the militia were Stephen Douglas and James Clyman. (Clyman figures into the Donner tale as he had warned James Reed to stay the course and not deviate.)


In 1846, Abraham Lincoln was a successful lawyer. Mary Todd Lincoln gave birth to a son, Eddie, who was to live only four years. Lincoln entered into a parnership with a former law clerk named Herndon, and won election as a member of the Whig Party to the U.S. House of Representatives. He then departed for Washington, DC. He served only one term, but was present in the chamber during John Quincy Adam's fatal stroke. Altogether the Lincolns lived in Springfield in the only house he ever owned, for 17 years.


In 1846, James Reed was a prominent businessman in Springfield. It is probable that the wealthy owner of a furniture manufacturing company, who was active in civic and political affairs, crossed paths with Abraham Lincoln many times.

James Reed was born in County Armagh, Ireland on November 14, 1800. After his father, who was descended from Polish royalty, died, he and his mother immigrated to the United States. When he was old enough to support himself, his mother sent him to a relative in Virginia, who employed Reed as a clerk in his store. Around 1825, Reed was attracted to the lead mining district of Illinois and mining was to become a lifelong passion. He moved to Springfield in 1831 and married a widow, Margaret Keyes Backenstoe, in 1835 and became a stepfather to Virginia Backenstoe. He and Margaret had three children together. Before running the furniture company he also had owned and run a general store, a starch factory, and a sawmill. He also was a speculator in real estate and railroad contracts and served as the pension agent for Springfield. .

Reed has been described as having a strong personality, intelligence, energy, as well as being aristocratic and overbearing. He had amassed a fortune, but the lure of new opportunities and riches in the west beckoned him two years before the Gold Rush which prompted him to advertise for people to accompany him, at first to Oregon, then California.

The Donners were farmers who knew of James Reed by reputation and in April 0f 1846, after preparing for over a year, they set off to California.


As for James Reed:

All but one of his family survived the ordeal; his mother-in-law, who was in frail health, died before they reached the Sierra Nevada.

He was an extraordinarily lucky and resourceful man; He made a fortune during the Gold Rush in Placerville (the advantage of already being there) and became a founding father and philanthropist of San Jose, California. He died a happy and wealthy man in 1874.


An excerpt from a letter by Virginia Reed: ''Oh, Mary. I have not wrote you half of the trouble we've had, but I have wrote you enough to let you know what trouble is. But thank God, we are the only family that did not eat human flesh. We have left everything, but I don't care for that. We have got through with our lives. Don't let this letter dishearten anybody. Remember, never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can.''


Click on the following links to view the pages.

Black Hawk War

Donner History Sites:

Donner Memorial State Park & Emigrant Trail Museum, 12593 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee, CA 95734. (916) 582-7892. Donner Memorial State Park, near the eastern shore of Donner Lake, commemorates the disaster; the area where the Donner families camped at Alder Creek has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, 1726 Washington Street, Oregon City, OR 97045 (503)657-9336.

Fort Bridger Historic Site, PO Box 35, Fort Bridger, WY 82933. (307) 782-3842.

Fort Laramie Historical Association, HC 72, Box 389, Fort Laramie, WY 82212. (307) 837-2221.

National Frontier Trails Center, 318 W. Pacific St., Independence, MO. 64050. (816)325-7575.

Oregon-California Trail Association, 524 South Osage St., PO Box 1019, Independence, MO 64051-0519. (816) 252-2276.

The Oregon Trail. This website was put together by the creators of the PBS documentary about the trail.

Scotts Bluff National Monument, PO Box 27, Gering, Nebraska 69341. (308) 436-4340.

Sutter’s Fort, 2701 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95816. (916) 323-7626.

www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/patty/pattysg5.html

http://www.utahcrossroads.org/DonnerParty

Donner Memorial State Park, near the eastern shore of Donner Lake, commemorates the disaster; the area where the Donner families camped at Alder Creek has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Suggested reading for elementary school:

Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party

by Rachel Laurgaard

In the hard winter of 1846, the Donner Party is stranded for months without food in the snowy Sierra Nevada. Many of the pioneers die from their bitter hardships. But others survive, including eight-year-old Patty Reed.

This book is Patty's story, as told by Dolly, the tiny wooden doll she keeps hidden in her dress. Dolly vividly remembers days on the prairies, nights in camp, and the tiresome trek through the dry desert. During the bleak snowbound months, Dolly is Patty's only comfort.

Pieced together from letters, journals, and memoirs, this heartwarming tale shows how a little girl's love for her doll can transcend all danger.

Paper, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 144 pp. ISBN 0-9617357-2-4 $9.95