ABSTRACT
Hand printing, also known as manuscript writing, was brought to the U.S. by several England educators shortly after 1920 and adopted for use in a number of private and specialized schools in the New York and Boston areas.1 It has been taught as a writing style in the majority of U.S. urban schools’ primary grades since the mid-1940s. Prior to the introduction of manuscript writing, hand lettering was taught to those in professions such as drafting and engineering. Charles W. Reinhardt devised and published a system of rapid single-stroke lettering for engineers based on simplified forms.1 Modern manuscript writing evolved from Reinhardt’s formal hand printing system and is taught to U.S. children entering kindergarten or first grade.2
