Damage Control: MKULTRA, Human Ecology, and the Press

Abstract

This paper provides a brief history of the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology/Human Ecology Fund and Psychological Assessments Associates, two CIA proprietaries connected to the Agency’s infamous MKULTRA program. Using a combination of archival sources and contemporary newspaper coverage, the author demonstrates the ways in which MKULTRA fronts reacted to press coverage from the program’s 1953 establishment to its public exposure in 1977. Further, this paper explores the ways how, and the reasons why, social science researchers and CIA officers lied to the press about their financial and ethical role in the government’s secret funding of medicine, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry. This is done by using the test cases of John W. Gittinger, Col. James L. Monroe, and Dr. Lawrence E. Hinkle, each of whom told significant lies to the press in the 1970s for vastly different reasons.Temple University. College of Liberal ArtsHistoryA paper presented at the 31st James A. Barnes Graduate History Conference, which took place March 14-15, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA