November 11, 1904
November 15, 1996

Accused Spy

Alger Hiss was a prominent public figure when he was accused, in 1939, of spying for the Soviets. His accuser was Whittaker Chambers, a notable journalist and reformed communist. Hiss served a five-year sentence for perjury (lying under oath), and spent many of his remaining years trying to clear his name.

A bright student with a tragic family

The fourth of five children, Hiss was born into an upper-middle-class family in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, an executive at a dry goods company, committed suicide when Hiss was just two-and-a-half years old. Raised in a Presbyterian (Protestant church governed by priests traditionally emphasizing the predestination of souls to heaven and hell) household, he lived with his mother and aunt, and did not learn of his father’s suicide until he was ten.

Having first attended public schools, Hiss enrolled in Powder Point Academy...