Table Of ContentAlso by Doreen rAppAport
lIVInG DAnGeroUsly American Women Who risked
their lives for Adventure
be tHe JUDGe | be tHe JUry the sacco-Vanzetti trial
be tHe JUDGe | be tHe JUry the lizzie borden trial
be tHe JUDGe | be tHe JUry tinker vs. Des Moines
tHe boston Coffee pArty
UnIteD no More! stories of the Civil War
VICtory or DeAtH! stories of the American revolution
IllUstrAteD WItH
pHotoGrApHs,
prInts, AnD
DIAGrAMs
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for the use of photographs
in this book: AP/Wide World Photos: 9, 10, 14, 15, 20, 22, 32, 38, 48, 81, 141, 158.
The Harvard Law School Library: 61, 131. New York Daily Mirror: 23, 51. New
York Journal American: 29, 211. The New York Public Library: 53, 56, 67, 89,
110, 119, 121, 124, 136, 145, 148, 150. Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case: 75, 93,
94, 100, 108. The Washington Post: 63, 97, 135, 159, 164, 165.
Cover art © 2012 by John Jude Palencar.
The Alger Hiss Trial
Copyright © 1993, 2012 by Doreen Rappaport
All rights reserved.
Published by StarWalk Kids Media.
Originally published in 1993 by Harper Collins, New York.
Except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and
articles, no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.
Contact: StarWalk Kids Media,
15 Cutter Mill Road, Suite 242,
Great Neck, NY 11021.
www.StarWalkKids.com
StarWalk KidsMedia
The Library of Congress has catalogued the printed edition as follows:
Rappaport, Doreen.
The Alger Hiss trial / Doreen Rappaport; illustrated with photographs, prints, and diagrams.
(Be the judge / be the jury)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: A reconstruction of the Alger Hiss trial, using testimony from edited transcripts
of the trial, during which the reader can assume the role of juror.
ISBN 978-1-623341-90-9
1. Hiss, Alger—Trials, litigation, etc.—Juvenile literature. 2. Trials (Perjury)—New York (N.Y.)—
Juvenile literature.
[1. Hiss, Alger—Trials, litigation, etc. 2. Trials (Perjury).]
I. Title. II. Series: Rappaport, Doreen. Be the judge/be the jury.
For Katherine Brown Tegen, who understands before the words
are written.
Contents
Before the Trial 7
Choosing the Jury 25
The Prosecution’s Opening Statement 31
The Defense’s Opening Statement 37
Prosecution Witnesses 47
Defense Witnesses 107
Rebuttal Witnesses 171
The Defense’s Closing Statement 177
The Prosecution’s Closing Statement 191
The Judge’s Charge 203
The Verdict 209
Guilty or Innocent? 225
Author’s Note 229
Acknowledgments 231
Bibliography 233
Stenographer’s Notes 237
Everything in this book really happened. This
book contains the actual testimony of the
witnesses at the Alger Hiss trial.
State Department offices where alleged
stealing of documents took place
8
T
h
The Accusations
e
A
l
g
e
r
h
In August 1948 Whittaker Chambers, an ex- is
s
T
Communist, accused Alger Hiss, a highly r
iA
l
re spected government official, of having been
a Communist spy. Hiss swore that he had never
been a spy. He said he knew Chambers briefly
under another name but had not seen him
since July 1936. In December a federal grand
jury in dicted Hiss for perjury—for lying about
being a spy and lying about his relationship
with Chambers. The trial resulted in a “hung
jury”—the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. On
November 17, 1949, a second trial began.
For as long as it takes you to read this book,
you will BE THE JURY at the second trial. You
will sit in the jury box and listen to witnesses
testify and be cross-examined. You will evalu-
ate the evidence and decide whether or not
Hiss was telling the truth.
9
L
A Read carefully. Think carefully about every-
I
r
t
e thing you read. Do not make your decision
h
t
e lightly, for Alger Hiss’s future is in your hands.
r
o
f
e
b
Who Was Alger Hiss?
As a young man, Hiss at tended Johns Hopkins
University on scholarship and graduated with
hon ors. He went on scholar ship to Harvard Law
School and was an out standing student there,
too. He served as a law clerk for Supreme Court
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. From 1930 to
1933 he practiced law in Boston and New York.
From 1934 to 1947 he held
important jobs in the fed-
eral government. When
Cham bers accused Hiss
of having been a spy, Hiss
was the president of the
Carnegie Endowment for
Peace. At the time of the
trial forty-four-year-old
