Thanks for your comment, Steve. It is indeed strange that J. Edgar didn’t have a birth certificate, although the city of Washington required one in 1895. He didn’t file one until 1938, when he was 43 years old. Some suspected, and still do, that Hoover may have been of mixed race. Many former FBI agents recall that rumors about his ancestry were prevalent within the Bureau. Hoover’s efforts to thwart these rumors may explain his virulent racism and relentless targeting of blacks.