Alger Hiss to Robert Knowles letter

Alger Hiss was born November 11, 1904 in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University and earned his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1929. Hiss became a government attorney in 1933 and worked his way up to Director of the State Department's Office of Special Political Affairs in 1944. In 1946, he became President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where he remained until he was forced to step down in 1949. Hiss was accused of espionage and Communist Party membership by Whittaker Chambers in 1948. He denied the accusations as well as contact with Chambers during his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities on August 5, 1948. He admitted to knowing Chambers under a different name after seeing his picture. Hiss was charged with two counts of perjury and sentenced to five years in prison following two trials. He was disbarred while serving three years and eight months in prison. After his release, Hiss worked for stationery companies in New York City. He maintained his innocence until his death in November 1996. Historical information adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alger_Hiss.