Osgood examines the history of the school lives of children placed in formal or informal special education settings in American public schools during the last 120 years. As the public school system in the United States grew throughout the 20th century, special education became a recognized and dependable, but marginalized, arm of public schooling. Throughout the 1900s special education emerged as its own world in many ways, developing policies, practices, structures, and an identity that became more diverse and inclusive.

This work describes and interprets the nature and characteristics...