'The whole history of the Sexual Revolution as seen by a minor actor, who kept notes': Gershon Legman and US Sexual History

Abstract

There are some figures in sexual history whose lives encapsulate the cultural moments of their times. Gershon Legman’s life (1917–99) straddles several sexual eras and was a kind of palimpsest of twentieth-century sexual history. He was not just present at these sexual moments, but he explored and charted them in all their complexity. His was a life dedicated to sexual research. This article explores Legman’s (sometimes contradictory) contribution to the history of American sex. When people think of modern sexual research, Alfred Kinsey or William Masters and Virginia Johnson are the names usually invoked. However, Gershon Legman deserves to be remembered too.