Also at a young age, he showed great interest in nature and camping. 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.Īt age 10, Kinsey moved with his family to South Orange, New Jersey. His health records indicate that Kinsey received suboptimal exposure to sunlight (often the cause of rickets, 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, often unable to afford proper medical care. Kinsey's father imposed strict rules on the household, including mandating Sunday as a day of prayer and little else. Most of Kinsey's social interactions were with other members of the church, often as a silent observer, while his parents discussed religion. His father was known as one of the most devout members of the local Methodist church. His mother received little formal education his father was a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Alfred Kinsey was born on June 23, 1894, in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Sarah Ann (née Charles) and Alfred Seguine Kinsey.
