| − | Alger Hiss was [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html born] November 11, 1904, in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] to a [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/1.html financially comfortable upper-middle-class]<ref>The Hisses were "prominent, respected people. They kept their own horse and carriage, and on occasion [Alger's father] would hire a private railroad car for a family outing. They were seen at concerts and art galleries, they cultivated a life of good taste and literary interests, they knew everyone they wanted to know in Baltimore, they belonged to the best clubs, and they were recognized wherever they went." (John Chabot Smith, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=bCYrAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Alger Hiss, the True Story]'' [Geneva, Ill.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976] ISBN 0030137764, p. 34) Young Alger went to a [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-25testimony.html camp in Maine]. Among his hobbies were tennis and horseback riding. (Lance Morrow, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=CEC30zxnXSMC The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power]'' [New York: Basic Books, 2005] ISBN 0465047238, P. 248)</ref> WASP [[family]].<ref>Aaron Beim and Gary Alan Fine, "The Cultural Frameworks of Prejudice: Reputational Images and the Postwar Disjuncture of Jews and Communism," ''The Sociological Quarterly'', Summer 2007, Vol. 48, Issue 3, pp. 373-397. "Alger's mother claimed descent from the Earl of Leicester and, on her mother's side, a leading Baltimore family, the Grundys." (Lance Morrow, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=CEC30zxnXSMC The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power]'' [New York: Basic Books, 2005] ISBN 0465047238, P. 248)</ref> Alger's [[father]], an [http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/hiss-obit.html executive with a wholesale dry goods firm], committed [[suicide]] by [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985608,00.html slashing] his throat with a razor when the boy was just two years old. When Hiss was 25, his [[sister]] Mary Ann also committed suicide, by drinking a bottle of Lysol.<ref>"....Mary Ann... had swallowed a bottle of Lysol, killing herself." G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 5</ref> Alger's older [[brother]] Bosley had died two and a half years before from Bright’s disease, a [[kidney]] disorder reportedly induced<ref>"Bos.... drank a lot... and contracted Bright's disease, an alcohol-induced kidney ailment...." Tony Hiss, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SPV2AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Laughing Last: Alger Hiss by Tony Hiss]'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977), ISBN 039524899X, cited in G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 158</ref> or [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/1.html aggravated] by his excessive [[alcohol]] consumption. | + | Alger Hiss was [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html born] November 11, 1904, in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] to a [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/1.html financially comfortable upper-middle-class]<ref>The Hisses were "prominent, respected people. They kept their own horse and carriage, and on occasion [Alger's father] would hire a private railroad car for a family outing. They... knew everyone they wanted to know in Baltimore, they belonged to the best clubs, and they were recognized wherever they went." (John Chabot Smith, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=bCYrAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Alger Hiss, the True Story]'' [Geneva, Ill.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976] ISBN 0030137764, p. 34) Young Alger went to a [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-25testimony.html camp in Maine]; among his hobbies were tennis and horseback riding. (Lance Morrow, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=CEC30zxnXSMC The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power]'' [New York: Basic Books, 2005] ISBN 0465047238, P. 248)</ref> WASP [[family]].<ref>Aaron Beim and Gary Alan Fine, "The Cultural Frameworks of Prejudice: Reputational Images and the Postwar Disjuncture of Jews and Communism," ''The Sociological Quarterly'', Summer 2007, Vol. 48, Issue 3, pp. 373-397. "Alger's mother claimed descent from the Earl of Leicester and, on her mother's side, a leading Baltimore family, the Grundys." (Lance Morrow, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=CEC30zxnXSMC The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power]'' [New York: Basic Books, 2005] ISBN 0465047238, P. 248)</ref> Alger's [[father]], an [http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/hiss-obit.html executive with a wholesale dry goods firm], committed [[suicide]] by [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985608,00.html slashing] his throat with a razor when the boy was just two years old. When Hiss was 25, his [[sister]] Mary Ann also committed suicide, by drinking a bottle of Lysol.<ref>"....Mary Ann... had swallowed a bottle of Lysol, killing herself." G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 5</ref> Alger's older [[brother]] Bosley had died two and a half years before from Bright’s disease, a [[kidney]] disorder reportedly induced<ref>"Bos.... drank a lot... and contracted Bright's disease, an alcohol-induced kidney ailment...." Tony Hiss, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SPV2AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Laughing Last: Alger Hiss by Tony Hiss]'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977), ISBN 039524899X, cited in G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 158</ref> or [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/1.html aggravated] by his excessive [[alcohol]] consumption. |