Biography
Dr. Willard Uphaus was the director of World Fellowship, a religious pacifist organization, targeted by New Hampshire's one-man subversion probe under Attorney General Louis Wyman for running peace seminars. He refused on First Amendment grounds to turn over the names of seminar guests; fined in 1955 and fighting the inquiry, he was later jailed for a year for contempt.
In a letter published April 17, 1961, written while travelling by train toward Seattle, Uphaus thanked supporters who had stood by him and Ola during his year in prison and said he had been free for about three months. He described resuming peace and civil-liberties speaking appointments and preparing another World Fellowship summer in New Hampshire. The rounded recollection is not converted into a different exact release date. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1961-04-17-13-27-nat-guardian.pdf#page=2
On June 8, 1959, the Supreme Court affirmed the contempt judgment against Uphaus by a 5–4 division. The contemporary report identifies the disputed demand as New Hampshire's request for guest and speaker lists from World Fellowship and explains the ruling's distinction between state subversion investigations and the federal Smith Act. This appellate decision is not treated as a new sentencing or prison-admission date.
The National Guardian’s August 1, 1960 jail-visit report identifies George R. Grant Jr. of the Merrimack County Superior Court as the judge who committed Willard Uphaus. It describes six-by-nine-foot cells, no outdoor recreation, and visiting limited to one hour a week. A church council’s clemency request and the report’s interim seven-month milestone did not establish his release; the editorial notice specifically distinguishes Hugo DeGregory’s July 19 bail release from Uphaus’s continuing confinement.
Contemporary jail-visit report and release update, National Guardian, August 1, 1960, page 3.
The National Guardian reported on December 19, 1960 that Uphaus had been released on December 11, after imprisonment beginning December 14, 1959. New Hampshire Attorney General Louis Wyman sought continued confinement until Uphaus supplied the requested names, but Superior Court Judge George R. Grant Jr. refused and approved release. The report also records the Supreme Court’s November 14, 1960 dismissal of a further review by six votes to three, with Justice Hugo Black dissenting. This was a later proceeding than the Court’s June 1959 affirmance. Contemporary release report, page 9.
