An article that appeared in the January 11, 1915 New York Times described the
popular Evangelist Billy Sunday's Philadelphia revival meeting as follows:
The first person to answer the evangelist's call was a young man, who leaped to his
feet the moment he realized Sunday was crying for converts and dashed for the speaker's
hand. The second was a woman. After them came the others in a tide that almost swept
the ushers and the police guards from their feet. Sunday leaned far over his platform
and grabbed each hand as it was stretched toward him, his forehead moist and his eyes
glittering.
George Bellows was an excellent observer of group dynamics and nowhere could he have
found a better subject for his eye than the revival meetings of the evangelist Billy
Sunday. In this lithograph, Bellows showed little concern for the preacher but paid
close attention to the responses of the crowd. Women faint, men glower or hold their
heads, some spectators sit decorously, others rise to their feet, the ushers look
calmly on at the mass of humanity churning in the auditorium. A graceful figure at
the top right, directing the choir with his back turned towards the viewer, looks
as if he is about to take flight.
