|
At the Chamberses' Farm: December 2, 1948
At 10:30 P.M. Chambers led two HUAC investigators to a pumpkin patch on his farm. There he opened a hollowed-out pumpkin and pulled out five rolls of microfilm. Three undeveloped rolls proved too light-struck to show anything. But two rolls of developed film contained photographs of State Department documents, three with the initials of Alger Hiss on them. Chambers said he had hidden the microfilm in the pumpkin because he thought Hiss's investigators would never find it there. The next morning Americans read about the "Pumpkin Papers," as this microfilm was called, in their newspapers. Nixon called a press conference. He held up a roll of microfilm and said, "It is no longer one man s word against
Richard Nixon (right) examines the microfilm
|
