Biography
One of the eight Union Theological Seminary students known as the "Union Eight" who, on October 16, 1940, the first day of registration under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, collectively refused to register for the draft despite their automatic seminarian exemption. Their joint statement objected to conscription itself: "To us, the war system is an evil part of our social order, and we declare we cannot cooperate with it... We believe that war and conscription are sins against God and humanity." Convicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; sentenced November 14, 1940 to 1 year at FCI Danbury (Connecticut). Most served roughly 9 months before parole. Co-defendants: George Houser, David Dellinger, Don Benedict, Meredith Dallas, Joseph Bevilacqua, Richard Wichlei, William Lovell, Howard Spragg. After release Spragg was ordained in the Congregational Christian Churches and rose to become executive vice president of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries — the social-action arm of the United Church of Christ — from 1962 to 1981.