"[5] This seems to be corroborated by a record of a solo performance of "War Veteran's March" given by young DeLand following the address of Lieutenant-Governor Edward F. Jones at the Eighth Annual Convention of the Woman's Relief Corps in Rochester in 1890.

As O'Hara relates that during modeling sessions at Drexel it was not uncommon that "[Pyle] brought in period artifacts and props to create the feel, and even the smell, of another time and to stress the importance of accuracy in details.

"[7]: 140  When Pyle founded the School of Illustration at Drexel in 1896, DeLand was among the first class under the new cirriculum, which placed importance on preparing and promoting students for publication.

DeLand was showing several such works in the 1898 Drexel summer exhibition, and by the end of the next year, he had procured more illustration contracts from such publishers as Houghton Mifflin.

[8]: 88, 91  After he graduated from Pyle's classes, in either 1898 or 1899, DeLand moved back to his native Philadelphia to begin a "relatively modest career" as a professional illustrator.