Bordering the Familiar: Drawing Education Legislation in the Northeastern United States, 1871-1876

Information regarding enactment of drawing education legislation in the United States during the 19th century centers almost exclusively on events that occurred in Massachusetts, primarily the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870. Legislative history regarding the ratification of drawing education laws in states surrounding Massachusetts is available in limited fragments, and has received little attention from historians. This article draws together sketchy and scattered legislative documents from the states of Maine, New York, and Vermont, and through the compilation and interpretation of these materials, offers the view that, (a) to an extent, the Massachusetts Drawing Act appears to have been influential in helping to shape the drawing education laws enacted soon afterward in other nearby northeastern states; and (b) similar to the legislative scenario that unfolded in Massachusetts, economic and personal ambition played a significant role in the initiation of drawing education legislation in northeastern states that neighbored Massachusetts during the late 19th century.