ABSTRACT
The founding years of the field were governed by the development of tentative understandings of gifted children and dominated by the work of two main researchers, Lewis Terman and Leta Hollingworth. During World War II, educational facilities were curtailed sharply and opportunities for gifted pupils were affected adversely. Unsurprisingly, World War II interrupted much of the research being conducted on gifted children. Academically advanced youth would be cultivated as a resource in America's Cold War effort against the Soviet Union. A. Harry Passow, a professor in gifted education at Teachers College, vehemently disagreed with Rickover's proposal, countering that if gifted education was going to succeed it needed to happen within the framework of universal general education. Gifted education would find itself caught between these two competing ideologies. Notables from both within and outside the gifted education community began to speak out on behalf of gifted and talented students.
