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 Lovell was ordained a Methodist minister; long-time pastor in the San Francisco Bay Area and active in the Methodist Federation for Social Action, civil rights organizing, and anti-apartheid work.