Vinnie Ream Hoxie

Overview 

Lavinia Ellen Ream Hoxie, or as she tended to go by, Vinnie Ream, was born in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, on September 25, 1847. Ream was educated at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, and there still remains artwork of Martha Washington done by Ream. Her job at clerk in the dead letter office of the United States Post Office was relatively mundane, however such position, meant she broke ground in that historically it was one of the first women to be employed by the federal government.  After meeting famous sculptor Clark Mills, the artist commented on her own artistic and creative ability and the idea that she may have potential. 
 
Vinnie didn't stop there, and 18, was the first female, and youngest person to receive a commission from the United States Government for a full-size Carrara marble statue of Abraham Lincoln. More famous people she represented artistically with busts and statues included, Gustave Dore, Pere Hyacynthe, Franz Liszt, and Giacomo Antonelli. A town in Oklahoma, Vinita, is named after Vinnie.