John Allen and Jeff Ewing
Our August Little Round Table meeting will explore how two Southern women navigated politics, art, and celebrity to shape the nation’s public life in the mid‑19th century. This study pairs Virginia Clay, a politically connected Alabama belle who witnessed Washington and Confederate high society from the inside, with Vinnie Ream, the teenage sculptor who won a groundbreaking federal commission to memorialize Abraham Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol. We’ll learn how each woman turned charisma, talent, and controversy into unexpected influence at a time when women were expected to remain in the background. John H. Allen and Jeff Ewing share leadership in our discussion as we discover how Clay and Ream challenged gender norms, mastered the press of their day, and left cultural and political legacies that still echo in stone, in print, and in memory. This study is a great reminder that the Civil War era’s most compelling stories are not only about generals and presidents. Join our journey into their intertwined worlds and decide for yourself whether Virginia Clay and Vinnie Ream truly were the most fascinating women in America.
