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Chambers was born in Philadelphia, [[Pennsylvania]] and spent much of his youth in suburban Long Island, New York. He got along poorly with his father, an artist and illustrator; he was on better terms with his mother, a former actress, and his grandfather, a leading political journalist. He had a miserable childhood as a loner whose parents frequently separated. After graduating from high school in 1919, he bummed around the country, discovering an empathy with the under class.  A brilliant student of language and culture, he displayed depth at Columbia University, where he was influenced by professors Mark Van Doren and of such friends as Meyer Schapiro, Louis Zukofsky, Clifton Fadiman, Langston Hughes, and Lionel Trilling. His poetry, drama, and stories convinced Columbia literary circles that he could become a major American writer--even a great poet. But Columbia expelled him in 1922--perhaps for a blasphemous play, or more likely for skipping class. No matter, he was a convert to Communism and the Party was now all that mattered.  

Chambers was born in Philadelphia, [[Pennsylvania]] and spent much of his youth in suburban Long Island, New York. He got along poorly with his father, an artist and illustrator; he was on better terms with his mother, a former actress, and his grandfather, a leading political journalist. He had a miserable childhood as a loner whose parents frequently separated. After graduating from high school in 1919, he bummed around the country, discovering an empathy with the under class.  A brilliant student of language and culture, he displayed depth at Columbia University, where he was influenced by professors Mark Van Doren and of such friends as Meyer Schapiro, Louis Zukofsky, Clifton Fadiman, Langston Hughes, and Lionel Trilling. His poetry, drama, and stories convinced Columbia literary circles that he could become a major American writer--even a great poet. But Columbia expelled him in 1922--perhaps for a blasphemous play, or more likely for skipping class. No matter, he was a convert to Communism and the Party was now all that mattered.  

==The [[Ware Group]]==

==The [[Ware Group]]==

In 1925, Chambers joined the [[American Communist Party]] and edited Communist periodicals, including ''[[Daily Worker|The Daily Worker]]'' and ''[[New Masses|The New Masses]]''.  Chambers joined the Communist underground in the spring of 1932. In 1933, he was sent to Moscow for intelligence training and when he returned to the United States, his main controller was [[J. Peters|Josef Peters]].  Peters introduced Chambers to [[Harold Ware]], head of the Ware group, a Communist underground cell in Washington that included [[Alger Hiss]], [[Henry Collins]] and [[Lee Pressman]].  Hiss, meanwhile, took a job on the legal staff of the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]].  Chambers worked in Washington as an organizer among Communists in the city and as a courier between New York and Washington for stolen documents which where delivered to [[GRU]] ''Illegal [[Rezident]]'' [[Boris Bykov]].  He worked in this capacity from 1934 until he left the Communist party in 1938 having been alienated by the [[Great Purge]] of [[Josef Stalin]].  Chambers tried to convince Hiss to leave the party also; the two sat up all night after dinner one night arguing the point.  Chambers recounted how Hiss, tears streaming down his face, refused to break with the Party because of his loyalty to his friends.  It was the fanaticism of Hiss's wife, Chambers believed, that kept him in the party.

In 1925, Chambers joined the [[American Communist Party]] and edited Communist periodicals, including ''[[Daily Worker|The Daily Worker]]'' and ''[[New Masses|The New Masses]]''.  Chambers joined the Communist underground in the spring of 1932. In 1933, he was sent to Moscow for intelligence training and when he returned to the United States, his main controller was [[J. Peters|Josef Peters]].  Peters, a veteran of the [[Bela Kuhn]] revolution,<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-3testimony.html Testimony of Whittaker Chambers] before the House Committee on Un-American Activities

(August 3, 1948).</ref> introduced Chambers to [[Harold Ware]], head of the Ware group, a Communist underground cell in Washington that included [[Alger Hiss]], [[Henry Collins]] and [[Lee Pressman]].  Hiss, meanwhile, took a job on the legal staff of the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]].  Chambers worked in Washington as an organizer among Communists in the city and as a courier between New York and Washington for stolen documents which where delivered to [[GRU]] ''Illegal [[Rezident]]'' [[Boris Bykov]].  He worked in this capacity from 1934 until he left the Communist party in 1938 having been alienated by the [[Great Purge]] of [[Josef Stalin]].  Chambers tried to convince Hiss to leave the party also; the two sat up all night after dinner one night arguing the point.  Chambers recounted how Hiss, tears streaming down his face, refused to break with the Party because of his loyalty to his friends.  It was the fanaticism of Hiss's wife, Chambers believed, that kept him in the party.

Chambers saved a collection of documents he received from Hiss to protect himself and his family against retribution from the secret apparatus as occurred in the [[Juliet Poyntz]] case.  Ten years later they became known as the "pumpkin papers."

Chambers saved a collection of documents he received from Hiss to protect himself and his family against retribution from the secret apparatus as occurred in the [[Juliet Poyntz]] case.  Ten years later they became known as the "pumpkin papers."