Original Document

Upwards of forty art students, members of the life class of the Academy of the Fine Arts, marched down Chestnut Street about 10 o'clock last night from Seventeenth Street to the studio of Mr. Thomas Eakins, which is situated just below Broad Street and opposite the United States Mint. Each man wore a large E on the front of his hat as a symbol that he was for Eakins first, last and all the time. On reaching this point they came to a halt and cheered lustily for their head instructor. After waiting a reasonable length of time for him to appear, and seeing no sign of his appearance, they departed for their homes. Prior to this demonstration they met at the rooms of one of their number and drew up a petition requesting the Board of Directors of the Academy to endeavor to persuade Mr. Eakins to withdraw his resignation, which was recently sent in, and return to his old place. . . . It is said that should the directors refuse to comply with the request thus made, the students, with a few exceptions, will leave the Academy and accept Mr. Eakins's offer to teach them outside the institution.

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, 16 February 1886, in Gordon Hendrics, The Life and Work of Thomas Eakins (New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974).