The patriotic cover for Life magazine, Volume 73, No. 1895 is dated February 20, 1919. This issue appeared in the same month that Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday are commemorated. It was also published approximately three months after Armistice Day, which signaled the end of the Great World War, towards the end of the Americanization movement, and during the second wave of the 1918/1919 flu pandemic. The color illustration depicts a school boy holding an American flag and reciting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Behind him, a large American flag is hung above the blackboard. Inscribed at the bottom are the inspirational words: “--of the people, for the people, by the people--.”
The illustration is signed in the lower left corner by the artist, Victor C. Anderson (1882-1937). Anderson was a prominent painter of the Hudson River School, who trained at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He was primarily known for his rural life scenes and landscapes, and his works were featured in Life and other magazines of the early 20th century. Anderson also produced a wide range of illustrations for books.