Includes index. Intro -- Scandal on Plum Island -- Benjamin Koehler -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Epigraph -- Contents -- PART ONE -- ONE: Cross-Dressing for Halloween -- TWO: Perversion -- THREE: Embryo Generals -- FOUR: Islands -- FIVE: Mock Battle, Real Death -- SIX: Three Sons at Risk -- SEVEN: Single in San Francisco -- EIGHT: Plum Island -- NINE: Grudges Take Hold -- PART TWO -- TEN: A Chill in the Air -- ELEVEN: Living with a Man -- TWELVE: Ladies "Wearin' Pantaloons" -- THIRTEEN: The President Disapproves -- FOURTEEN: Hatched on Plum Island 93 -- FIFTEEN: A Hurried Investigation; SIXTEEN: Long Walk from Quartermaster Dock -- SEVENTEEN: A March, then a Brawl -- EIGHTEEN: Orders -- NINETEEN: All Hail Washington -- PART THREE -- TWENTY: The Meaning of "Start" -- TWENTY-ONE: Unthinkable -- TWENTY-TWO: Confusion -- TWENTY-THREE: An Old Nemesis Returns -- TWENTY-FOUR: "Any Such Tendencies" -- TWENTY-FIVE: A Clever Witness -- TWENTY-SIX: Ungrateful Guest -- TWENTY-SEVEN: An American Dreyfus? -- TWENTY-EIGHT: Irregularities -- TWENTY-NINE: A Fake Letter Makes the Rounds -- THIRTY: A Little Shutter and a Green Shade -- Photos -- THIRTY-ONE: So Much Talk about Fat Boys; THIRTY-TWO: Psychology Makes an Appearance -- THIRTY-THREE: Female Advocates -- THIRTY-FOUR: Details, Details -- THIRTY-FIVE: The Accused Speaks -- THIRTY-SIX: Manliness -- THIRTY-SEVEN: Deliberations -- THIRTY-EIGHT: Speculation -- PART FOUR -- THIRTY-NINE: Smear -- FORTY: Hawarden -- FORTY-ONE: Federal Action -- FORTY-TWO: A Home at the Prince -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes
Summary:
The carefree parties on Plum Island drew the ire of Maj. Benjamin Koehler, yet he would be the man arrested and accused of "immoral conduct" at the end of 1913. Koehler, a West Point alumnus and Philippine War veteran, had been tasked with bringing discipline to the 700 men living at Fort Terry, a sprawling post on a beautiful island off New York's coast. He lived on officers row with his sister, an educated and independent woman who, like her brother, was unmarried. Little did the devoted siblings know that Fort Terry would soon be the stuff of front-page headlines, with Ben Koehler at the center of them--and not for his dutiful service to his country. The claims that Fort Terry's commander had groped male subordinates shocked the Army and Koehler's supporters, but the accusers were smart, triggering one of the first high-profile instances of federal legal process against a high-level military officer. Well before "homophobia" was a term, Koehler struggled to prove that the accusers were lying in a trial rife with innuendo and ill-informed ideas about how a "homo-sexualist" would behave. Thoroughly researched, involving historical figures as contrasting as Theodore Roosevelt and Susan B. Anthony, Scandal on Plum Island follows Koehler from respected officer to vilified outcast and turns up provocative information about his defense. His story is set in the context of changing standards of masculinity as the action moves from America's heartland to New York City, the Philippines, San Francisco, eastern Long Island, and government offices in Washington, D.C. In addition to telling a fast-moving and compelling story, Scandal on Plum Island speaks directly to modern discussions of gender norms, testimonial injustice, the high cost of stereotypes, and other issues of pressing concern.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.