Reading The Key Essay 13 of 17

Land Dotted With Little Schools

MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, 24 X 12
ACRYLIC, INK, GESSO, 1929 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 1954 WORD MASTERY SPELLER, BARTLETT’S QUOTATIONS, 1956 BEGINNING DICTIONARY

History textbooks aged 70 or 90 years themselves are interesting reading.

The 1929 History of the United States describes the growth of American education: “Outside of New England the idea of compensory education was not regarded with (the same) favor; but the whole land was nevertheless dotted with little schools kept by ‘dames, itinerant teachers, or local parsons.

“Whether we turn to the life of Franklin in the North or Washington in the South, we read of tiny schoolhouses, where boys and sometimes girls were taught to read and write.”

At the focal point we meet a young girl, in overalls, standing outside a clapboard structure. Is it a school, or her home? She is young, perhaps three years old. It is difficult to date the image, but the viewer might assume her home to be rural America, “outside of New England.” Beside her is the Reading The Key icon – a skeleton key – and painted steps that lead her uphill to a small schoolhouse on a hill, “dotting the land.”

May she have the opportunity to trek up the hill, to sit in a desk, to learn to form letters, and then to form letters and sounds into words and ideas.
The painting also presents quotes from Benjamin Franklin, including: “A used key is always bright.”

Amen.

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©Ginger Meek Allen