Nell Brinkley was born in 1888. A self-taught artist she worked for William Randolph Hearst and his numerous publications. She created what became known as the Brinkley Girl and used this character in her First World War drawing, The Three Graces. The drawing was accompanied by the words: "Any man who loves and reveres his mother and his country should idolize, if he worship at all, the three graces, Suffrage, Preparedness and Americanism." Brinkley, who was married to Bruce MacRae, died in 1944.