Whittaker Chambers

Born in 1901 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of a journalist.

Attended Columbia University, beginning in 1920. Was expelled in 1922 for writing a play that was deemed "blasphemous" by the University. Joined the American Communist Party in 1925 and became a writer for its main publication the Daily Worker. Married Esther Shemitz, herself a Communist, in 1931. His wife got him involved with the Communist underground movement seeking to overthrow the United States government. Chambers moved to Baltimore in 1934, using the name George Crosleyas he delivered stolen classified documents to a Russian agent, Colonel Boris Bykov.

After becoming disillusioned with Communism and the party, Chambers left the ACP. In 1939 after watching the signing of the non-aggression agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany, Chambers decided to approach U.S. officials and tell them what he knew about Soviet espionage efforts within the U.S. Having found employment with Time magazine, he turned to another journalist named Isaac Dan Levine who introduced him to the Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle who's position involved national security. Chambers confessed his actions to Berle and told him of other Soviet-controlled agents working within the U.S. government and government installations. Chambers exposed mathematician Franklin Reno an employee at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds (home to bomb and explosives research), as well as Colonel Bykov.