Klein, A. G. (2002). A forgotten voice: a biography of Leta Stetter Hollingworth.

Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press (246 pp., $22.00, pb, ISBN-0-910707-53-7).

Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939) was an eminent twentieth century psychologist and founder of the gifted education field. A profoundly gifted individual herself, she made remarkable contributions to educational psychology, women's issues, and the study of exceptional children. In A forgotten voice: A biography of Leta Stetter Hollingworth, Ann Klein chronicles the major events of this extraordinary woman's life. She traces Hollingworth's story from her early years on the Nebraska frontier, marked by loss and instability, to the intellectually and emotionally liberating experiences she enjoyed as a young woman at the University of Nebraska. Klein portrays the challenges Hollingworth faced establishing herself as a scientist in an age of blatant gender discrimination and the milestones of her exceptional career at Columbia University. Klein also documents her many contributions to psychology and gifted education. In recounting her life from her birth on the Nebraskan prairie in 1886 to her untimely death from cancer in 1939, Klein deftly balances stories of Hollingworth's personal relationships with accounts of her academic accomplishments. To achieve this balance, Klein draws on personal interviews with Hollingworth's family as well as archival research. The inclusion of her poetry, autobiographical reflections, and academic observations enhance our understanding of Hollingworth' s character.

Ann Klein became intrigued with Leta Hollingworth after reading the March, 1990 issue of Roeper Review that was entirely dedicated to her life and work. Klein was struck by the realization that despite her involvement in gifted education and educational psychology, she did not recognize Hollingworth's name. She was captivated by the fact that although Hollingworth's significant academic contributions were respected in the first half of the twentieth century, her works have been marginalized, or overlooked entirely, by contemporary psychologists and educators. Thus, A forgotten voice: A biography of Leta Stetter Hollingworth was written to ensure that Leta Stetter Hollingworth's voice would again be heard.

In "re-telling" Hollingworth's story, Klein interprets her life experiences from the Columbus Group definition of giftedness. This conceptual framework emphasizes asynchronous cognitive development, together with heightened emotional intensities and sensitivities. Klein notes that "from infancy, she experienced uneven emotional and cognitive development, coupled with the intense sensitivities that are so typical of highly gifted individuals" (p. 3). Klein frequently returns to this conceptual orientation when describing Hollingworth's "overexcitabilities" or intense reactions to events.

A strength of Klein's book is the successful portrayal of Hollingworth's life in "the context of her own time and space" (p. xviii). An appreciation for historical context is skillfully woven into Hollingworth's story. For example, her family background and early childhood experiences are described against a backdrop of prairie life and frontier hardships in the late 1880's. Later, when recounting Hollingworth's experiences of blatant bigotry against women, Klein deftly depicts Hollingworth's activism in feminist organizations against the larger milieu of social and political change that was underway in the early 1900's. As noted by James Borland (1990) it is a cruel irony that the forces of gender discrimination Hollingworth so energetically fought may ultimately have contributed to the marginalization of her work. Although Klein briefly acknowledges this, she does not expand upon it. Her focus is on telling the life story of a woman who attained prominence during the 1930s despite her gender.

Although Hollingworth made significant contributions to many areas of inquiry, her legacy in gifted education is of particular importance. Among Hollingworth's prolific academic accomplishments (which Klein includes as a Selected Bibliography) are many seminal works on gifted children. Klein notes that "so much of what Leta Hollingworth said and did in the early 1900s has made a significant mark on how we educate gifted children today" (p. 202). For example, Hollingworth was an early proponent of differentiated instruction and an advocate for the use of multiple criterion to identify the gifted child.

A forgotten voice: A biography of Leta Stetter Hollingworth is a clearly written, well organized book. Klein adeptly describes Hollingworth's immense passions for the people in her life, science, psychology, and gifted education. The book is well suited for students of psychology, women's studies, and gifted education.

REFERENCES

Borland, J. H. (1990). Leta Hollingworth's contributions to the psychology and education of the gifted. Roeper Review, 12, 162-166.

Judith A. Margison, a doctoral student in school psychology at Ball State University.