1897-1956
Sex Researcher

Childhood.

Alfred Kinsey was born in Hobo ken, New Jersey, and his family moved to South Orange, New Jersey, when he was ten years old. He was ill during much of his childhood, suffering rickets (bone deformity from lack of vitamin D), rheumatic fever (which affected his heart), and typhoid fever. His deeply religious family was very protective. While other boys played baseball, Kinsey collected plant specimens and wrote poetry. Even in high school he avoided female companionship rather than upset his religious parents, who disapproved of dating.

Education.

Kinsey's father wanted him to become a mechanical engineer, and he initially tried this field at Stevens Institute, where his father worked. After a stunning failure, he decided to become a biologist. His father gave him one suit of clothes for support, and Kinsey enrolled in Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, to study...