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This work examines a single organization, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston (SACB), during its first two decades, 1897-1917. Its purpose is threefold: to chart the transmission of the Arts and Crafts Movement from England to Boston, to demonstrate that turn-of-the-century Boston provided a cultural climate which was uniquely receptive to the movement, and to determine the nature of the movement in Boston as it was reflected in the events which took place during the formative years of the SACB. It asserts that the unit of dissemination for the ideals of the movement was the group, not the individual, and that the SACB, the first American organization to be patterned consciously after the English Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society (1888), was one of the most influential groups in the United States. The dissertation provides a model for studies of other similar organizations, introduces many architects, designers, craftsmen and educators who are worthy subjects for future monographs, and suggests that the literature of the American Arts and Crafts Movement could benefit from additional studies of a local or regional nature. The study is chronological, rather than thematic. It is based almost exclusively upon two archival collections of the SACB's papers. It discusses the events which led to the founding of the Society in June, 1897, its organizational structure, philosophy and membership, important exhibitions, Handicraft magazine, the SACB salesroom, the jury (which reviewed all objects displayed in exhibitions or in the salesroom), and an unsuccessful attempt on the part of the SACB to form its own School of Handicraft. This discussion reveals that: (1) the SACB was a conservative, apolitical organization, devoted almost exclusively to design education and reform, (2) the jury stressed technical rather than aesthetic expertise, and preferred an historic rather than an innovative approach to design, (3) many members worked in the Colonial Revival style, (4) a small group of architects dominated the administration of the organization, and (5) the effectiveness of the SACB was compromised by a chronic lack of funds, and the inability of its administrators to formulate a unified philosophical approach. *All degree requirements completed in 1984, but degree will be granted in 1985.