This book provides a biography of Elizabeth Farrell (1870-1932), whose work for the education of children with disabilities in New York City in the early 1900s was instrumental in the development of special education. Following an introductory chapter, chapters cover the following aspects of her life; (1) her background; (2) New York City, the Henry Street Settlement, and the first special education class; (3) the special education experiment; (4) her special education model takes hold; (5) assessment challenges; (6) the new special education programs come under attack; (7) the immigrant-special education connection; (8) recruiting and training special education teachers; and (9) her work to establish special education professional organizations, especially the Council for Exceptional Children of which she was the first president; and (10) the end of her career and her death. A summary notes her advanced ideas about special education including avoidance of completely separate facilities and services, the goal of returning students in special classes to regular classes, and use of a comprehensive referral and placement procedure. (Contains approximately 225 references.) (DB)