DOGGED DETERMINATION:

Dogged Determination, compiled and contributed by Evelyn D. Deno and Norena A. Hale and edited by Gretchen Bratvold

With the passage of the Special Instruction for Handicapped Children of School Age bill in 1957, Minnesota became one of the first states to require special education in public schools. These are the stories of the people who made it possible.

Before the 1950s, special education throughout the United States was severely lacking. Unwilling to see their children left behind any longer, parents and advocates took matters into their own hands and rallied for the rights of children who had disabilities. In 1957, as a result of their efforts, Minnesota overwhelmingly passed the groundbreaking Special Instruction for Handicapped Children of School Age bill – one of the first in the nation making special education a requirement in public schools.

University of Minnesota professor Evelyn Deno was one of those advocates, collecting stories from those who were involved in drafting and implementing the 1957 law. The result, Dogged Determination: An Anthology of the 1957 Law Requiring Education for Handicapped Children in Minnesota's Public Schools examines:

A succinct history of how children with disabilities were first institutionalized and then gradually educated in public schools
Stories from those involved in passing the 1957 law
First-hand accounts about how the law provided for the creation of a special education section in the Department of Education, teacher training programs, and individualized special education services in schools.

Thanks to generous grants by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and compilation and editing contributions by Norena Hale and Gretchen Bratvold, Dogged Determination is finally available for the first time in print.