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Visitors to the Art Institute of Chicago continue to be enthralled by a little-known painting by the artist Toby Edward Rosenthal entitled Elaine (1874). Its subject, the story of Elaine pining away for love of Sir Lancelot taken from Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, was already popular in Britain, but took America by storm. When Rosenthal’s Elaine was exhibited in Boston and San Francisco, thousands waited in long lines to get a glimpse of the painting, and it received a gold medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. In the United States, Elaine clubs were formed, the demand for Tennyson’s verses skyrocketed, and Elaine cigars and copies of an Elaine waltz, which was composed in honor of Rosenthal’s painting, were widely sold. This session seeks papers that explore the American Arthurian tradition. Papers might consider some of the following questions: Why did Arthurian characters and motifs gain popularity in the late 19th century? What made the subject or legend so appealing to American viewers? What did Arthurian legend, or more broadly the medieval past, offer Americans in the late 19th century? How do the Arthurian subjects found in American art compare and/or relate to their British counterparts? Does this sudden popularity of Elaine as a subject have any relevance to any other literary or social issues in American society at the time? Papers discussing a variety of media including but not limited to painting, sculpture, illustration, comics, advertisements and film will be considered.