Imagine Alfred Kinsey, who turned America’s sense of sexuality on its ear, and radical behaviorist B. F. Skinner as next door neighbors. Learn that same neighborhood was full of nationally influential figures advocating for everything from weaponizing American art against fascism to recognizing the genetic risks of atomic radiation. Set the story in the anxious warning signs, harsh realities and challenging aftermath of World War II. Mix in a possibly closeted University president and his remarkable friendship with his African American houseboy and you have the intriguing outlines of The Sages of Vinegar Hill.

How the Idea of The Sages of Vinegar Hill Came to Be

That’s the working title of my latest book project, anyway. It was prompted when a fellow faculty at my school told me her physician was kept in a Skinner baby tender as an infant and how his family’s neighbors on Vinegar Hill in Bloomington, Indiana were Skinner and Kinsey. As a psychologist, the thought of Skinner and Kinsey as neighbors was too delicious not to explore further. I ultimately came up with the idea of exploring the interactions and largely progressive pursuits of notable faculty who lived on Vinegar Hill.

Kinsey’s Reliance on Skinnerian Behaviorism

It’s difficult to determine how much Kinsey may have interacted with Kinsey intellectually. But Kinsey’s understanding of how the direction one’s sexuality takes was heavily dependent on behavioristic concepts.

In his Male volume, Kinsey had expressed skepticism about hormonal or genetic explanations of homosexual behavior. He detailed eight criteria that would need to be met to prove such a biological connection. But, by the early fifties, Kinsey no longer felt it was necessary to give the biological or genetic explanation any weight in his upcoming Female volume. It was a curious position for a zoologist.

In the new Female volume, KInsey’s only reference to biology would be the “physiologic capacity of every mammal to respond to any sufficient stimulus.” Nor did he focus on the social construction of identity, a concept not strongly present in that era. Instead he took the behavioristic perspective that one’s sexuality is determined by “the accident which leads an individual into his or her first sexual experience with a person of the same sex.”

What fueled homosexual behavior, in his view was “the conditioning effects of such experience; and the indirect but powerful conditioning which the opinions of other persons and the social codes may have on an individual’s decision to accept or reject the type of sexual contact.” (Kinsey, 1953, 447)

Skinner could not have phrased it better himself than if he’d written it himself.

As his theory would require, Kinsey clearly believed that his own bisexuality was only the result of the “accidental” timing of erotic opportunity and his reinforcing sexual experiences with both men and women. As such, Kinsey could understand his sexual history as entirely normative.

Skinner’s brand of behaviorism fit Kinsey’s personal inclinations to a T, not requiring the sexologist to pay attention to pesky concepts like genetic predisposition, gender identity and personal choice.

The exploration of issues of the day and how intelligent well intended people of the day grappled with them, perhaps not so differently than we do today, are among the themes I try to address in the book.

The Major Players

The period The Sages of Vinegar Hill explores is from 1937 (and Herman B Wells’ installation as Acting President at Indiana University) to 1949 and the eve of a new decade and the shadow cast by the impending Red scare. The figures I’m focusing on all taught at IU and most of them lived on the architecturally quirky Vinegar Hill. Each had an area of interest that still has resonance (in my mind, at least) today.

Skinner’s radical behaviorism and his utopian novel Walden II. Kinsey’s sexuality work, advocacy for queer sexuality and acknowledgement of sexual fluidity, though not quite in those words. Hermann Joseph Muller’s concerns about radiation and genetic mutation, who was also Jewish during a period of rampant anti-Semitism. Henry Radford Hope and some wonderful advocacy of behalf of art education as a way to bolster the foundation of our democracy. And Kate Hevner Mueller’s advocacy for women’s education as well as women’s role in the war effort. Intriguingly, Mueller’s husband taught in Kinsey’s marriage course before those relationships all went south. Kate was no fan of Kinsey’s and their conflict is insufficiently told in existing histories.

I also weave in President Wells’ friendships with his African American “houseboy,” James Lee Stewart and the Jewish student refugee he takes under his wing. Wells, a remarkable advocate for progressive causes in his own right, describes Stewart as like a brother to him, one of his closest lifelong friends. Stewart’s account supplies a rich and underutilized source for exploring racial challenges at the university. Fraenkel, who becomes Wells’ right hand man during the fifites, is similarly an intriguing figure.

The Next Steps

For those of you interested in my progress, I’ve completed a rough draft of the entire book. It is a portrait of the courageous progressive voices of the period, in all of their complexity and occasional problematic attitudes and behaviors. It feels like a history which can also serve as a progressive call to action may serve a useful purpose in these difficult times. I spent a week in the middle of July a few years back holed up in the IU Archives getting access to material not otherwise available. And, yes, that’s how I’m spent my summer vacation that year. I know—must be a labor of love!

Mark Carlson-Ghost