While there, Kinsey became interested in biology, botany and zoology. He seemed not to have formed strong social relationships during high school, but earned respect for his academic ability. Kinsey's ability early on to spend immense amounts of time deeply focused on study was a trait that would serve him well in college and during his professional career. At one time, Kinsey had hoped to become a concert pianist, but decided to concentrate on his scientific pursuits instead. While attending Columbia High School, he was not interested in sports, but devoted his energy to academic work and the piano. In high school, Kinsey was a quiet but hard-working student. Despite earlier disease having weakened his heart, Kinsey followed an intense sequence of difficult hikes and camping expeditions throughout his early life. Kinsey worked his way up through the Scouting ranks to earn Eagle Scout in 1913, making him one of the earliest Eagle Scouts. His parents strongly supported this (and joined as well) because the Boy Scouts was an organization heavily grounded on the principles of Christianity. He joined the Boy Scouts when a troop was formed in his community. Even Kinsey's senior undergraduate thesis for psychology, a dissertation on the group dynamics of young boys, echoed this interest. He enjoyed these activities to such an extent that he intended to work professionally for the YMCA after his education was completed. He worked and camped with the local YMCA often throughout his early years. Kinsey's father imposed strict rules on the household including mandating Sunday as a day of prayer (and little else).Īt a young age, Kinsey showed great interest in nature and camping. His father was known as one of the most devout members of the local Methodist church and as a result most of Kinsey's social interactions were with other members of the church, often merely as a silent observer while his parents discussed religion with similarly devout adults. Kinsey's parents were extremely devout Christians this left a powerful imprint on the man for the rest of his life. Rickets led to a curvature of the spine, which resulted in a slight stoop that prevented Kinsey from being drafted in 1917 for World War I. This health record indicates that Kinsey received suboptimal exposure to sunlight (the cause of rickets in those days before milk and other foods were fortified with vitamin D) and lived in unsanitary conditions for at least part of his childhood. This may have led to a young Kinsey receiving inadequate treatment for a variety of diseases including rickets, rheumatic fever, and typhoid fever. Kinsey's parents were poor for most of his childhood, and the family often could not afford proper medical care. His mother had received little formal education his father was a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. His work has profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States and many other countries.Īlfred Kinsey was born on June 23, 1894, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Alfred Seguine Kinsey and Sarah Ann Charles. Kinsey's research on human sexuality, foundational to the modern field of sexology, provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s. Alfred Charles Kinsey (J– August 25, 1956) was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey scale.
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