In this column the author discusses several major works that came out in the 50-year period from the 1920s to the 1960s, as well as real-world examples that show that differentiated curriculum works and can make a difference in the lives of gifted learners. In the 1920s, Leta Hollingworth's work advocated a specialized curriculum for gifted learners in self-contained settings, including specific foci that today would constitute a distinctive view of differentiation. This was followed by the contribution of Walter Barbe in his work with the magazine "Highlights for Children," providing a backdrop for infusing more emphasis on selection of reading materials for the gifted that went beyond reading level considerations to the quality of the newest children's literature. During the 1960s, with the emergence of additional large city programs for the gifted, a new focus on development of highly gifted learners in the affective area, emphasis on art and music options and museology offerings, and the issue of underrepresentation of students from poverty became evident. One work of great import to the field in the 1960s may be seen as the theoretical text on differentiation in the education of the gifted, authored by Virgil Ward. He was the first to lay out in formal terms a theory of differentiation that focused solely on what was appropriate for gifted learners in the area of curriculum, broadly defined at all levels of instruction. Also in the 1960s came the publication of the first edition of James Gallagher's text on "Teaching the Gifted Child," a clear practical approach to translating curriculum by subject matter into differentiated opportunities for the gifted by using criteria to guide the development process. In her examination of these real-world examples, the author recommends building on the tenets of this time period through the application of contemporary models of curriculum that show evidence of effectiveness.