Priscilla Hiss, born Priscilla Fansler and first married as Priscilla Hobson, was a 20th-century American teacher and book editor, best known as the wife of Alger Hiss, an alleged Communist and former State Department official whose innocence she supported with testimony throughout his two, highly publicized criminal trials in 1949.
Hiss attended Bryn Mawr College' (here, Rhoads Hall)
Hiss taught at the Dalton School (here, main building for grades 4-12, nicknamed "Big Dalton")
Hiss's second husband was Alger Hiss (here, 1950)
Hiss residence 3415 Volta Place in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. (2019)
Alger Hiss was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Before the trial Hiss was involved in the establishment of the United Nations, both as a US State Department official and as a UN official. In later life, he worked as a lecturer and author.
Hiss testifying in 1948
President Harry S. Truman addresses the first UN Conference in San Francisco (from left: unknown person, Truman, Harry Vaughan, Edward Stettinius, Hiss) on June 26, 1945.
Hiss in United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg in Kelly Township, Pennsylvania
