Editing J. Edgar Hoover (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Hoovers_Father.jpg|thumb|upright|Dickerson Naylor Hoover]]
Hoover was born on New Year's Day 1895 in Washington, D.C., to [[German American]] Anna Marie (''née'' Scheitlin; 1860–1938) and Dickerson Naylor Hoover (1856–1921), chief of the printing division of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]], formerly a plate maker for the same organization.<ref>Modern American Lives: Individuals and Issues in American History since 1945, Blaine T. Browne and Robert C. Cottrell, M. E. Sharpe (New York and London), 2008, p. 44</ref> Dickerson Hoover was of English and German ancestry. Hoover's maternal great-uncle, John Hitz, was a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] honorary [[consul general]] to the United States.{{sfn|Gage|2022|pp=8-9}} Among his family, he was the closest to his mother, who despite being "inclined to instruction", showed great affection towards her son.{{sfn|Gage|2022|p=17}}

Hoover was born in a house on the present site of Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, located on [[Seward Square]] near [[Eastern Market, Washington, D.C.|Eastern Market]] in Washington's [[Capitol Hill]] neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|author= D'au Vin, Constance |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/12/09/church-celebrates-anniversary/6d49c94b-1fd8-4bdc-b6bc-bf463704e025/ |title=Church Celebrates Anniversary|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 9, 1977 |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> A stained glass window in the church is dedicated to him. Hoover did not have a birth certificate filed upon his birth, although it was required in 1895 in Washington. Two of his siblings did have certificates, but Hoover's was not filed until 1938 when he was 43.<ref name="Spannaus, Edward">Hoover had 7 Children
{{cite news
|url= http://american_almanac.tripod.com/hoover.htm
|author= Spannaus, Edward
|title= The Mysterious Origins of J. Edgar Hoover
|work= American Almanac
|date= August 2000}}
</ref>

Hoover lived his entire life in Washington, D.C. He attended [[Cardozo Senior High School|Central High School]], where he sang in the school choir, participated in the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]] program, and competed on the debate team.<ref name="CoxTheo"/> During debates, he argued against women getting the right to vote and against the abolition of the death penalty.<ref>
{{cite news
|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/01/j-edgar-hoover-secret-fbi
|title= The secret life of J. Edgar Hoover
|newspaper= The Guardian
|location= London, UK
|date= January 1, 2012}}
</ref> The school newspaper applauded his "cool, relentless logic".<ref name=Weiner-ch1/> Hoover [[stutter]]ed as a boy, which he later learned to manage by teaching himself to talk quickly—a style that he carried through his adult career. He eventually spoke with such ferocious speed that stenographers had a hard time following him.<ref>
{{cite book
|last= Burrough
|first= Bryan
|title= Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34
|year= 2009
|publisher= Penguin Books}}
</ref>

Hoover was 18&nbsp;years old when he accepted his first job, an entry-level position as messenger in the orders department at the [[Library of Congress]]. The library was a half mile from his house. The experience shaped both Hoover and the creation of the FBI profiles; as Hoover observed in a 1951 letter, "This job ... trained me in the value of collating material. It gave me an excellent foundation for my work in the FBI where it has been necessary to collate information and evidence."<ref>
{{cite web
|author= J. Edgar Hoover
|url= https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/j-edgar-hoovers-first-job-and-the-fbi-files/j.-edgar-hoovers-first-job-and-the-fbi-files
|publisher= FBI
|date= June 28, 2012
|title= The Hoover Legacy, 40 Years After
|url-status=dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160314092138/https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/j-edgar-hoovers-first-job-and-the-fbi-files/j.-edgar-hoovers-first-job-and-the-fbi-files/
|archive-date= March 14, 2016
|df= dmy-all
}}
</ref>

In 1916, Hoover obtained a [[Bachelor of Laws]] from the [[George Washington University Law School]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url= https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/directors/hoover
|title= FBI — John Edgar Hoover
|publisher= Fbi.gov
|access-date= May 10, 2014
|url-status=dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140701131916/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/directors/hoover
|archive-date= July 1, 2014}}
</ref>  where he was a member of the Alpha Nu Chapter of the [[Kappa Alpha Order]], a [[Southern United States|Southern]] fraternity that was born out of a desire to "carry on the legacy of the 'incomparable flower of Southern Knighthood{{' "}} after the defeat of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] in 1865.{{sfn|Gage|2022|pp=43-45}} Some prominent Kappa Alpha alumni, who had an influence on Hoover's future beliefs, included author [[Thomas Dixon Jr.|Thomas Dixon]] and [[John Temple Graves]]. Hoover graduated with an [[Master of Laws|LL.M.]] in 1917 from the same university.<ref>
{{cite journal
|url= https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/j-edgar-hoovers-gw-years
|title= J. Edgar Hoover's GW Years
|journal= GW Today
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|title= Prominent Alumni
|url= http://alumni.gwu.edu/prominent/classyear/1880s30s.html
|publisher=[[George Washington University]]
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100611173014/http://alumni.gwu.edu/prominent/classyear/1880s30s.html
|archive-date= June 11, 2010
|url-status=dead}}
</ref> While a law student, Hoover became interested in the career of [[Anthony Comstock]], the New York City [[U.S. Postal Inspector]], who waged prolonged campaigns against fraud, [[vice]], pornography, and [[birth control]].<ref name=Weiner-ch1>
{{cite book
|last= Weiner
|first= Tim
|author-link= Tim Weiner
|title= Enemies – A history of the FBI
|year= 2012
|publisher= Random House
|location= New York
|isbn= 978-0-679-64389-0
|edition= 1
|chapter= Anarchy}}
</ref>