Willard Uphaus papers

The papers of Willard Uphaus contain personal and professional correspondence, reports, diaries, legal and financial documents, photographs, clippings, scrapbooks, writings, lecture material, administrative records, publicity material, press releases, newsletters, subject files, meeting minutes, conference materials, bulletins, printed matter and audio recordings. The material documents all aspects of Uphaus’ life including his relationship with his family, his education and early teaching as well as his work as executive secretary of the National Religion and Labor Foundation and as director of the World Fellowship of Faiths. Uphaus was a proponent of peace and his work for and interest in world peace, civil liberties, and American-Soviet Friendship is also amply represented in this collection. Of note is the material related to his prosecution and incarceration in 1960 on contempt charges stemming from Uphaus' refusal to divulge the names of guests who had visited the World Fellowship of Faiths Center in Conway, New Hampshire. Notable correspondents include Scott Nearing, Herbert Aptheker, Hugh H. Bownes, Royal France, Marion and Alex Munsell, Jerome Davis and Claude C. Williams. The collection also contains extensive family correspondence, especially with his third wife Ola and his mother, Mary. Because this correspondence spans the lifetime of both of these women, it provides an insight into Uphaus’s mind and actions during all major and minor events of his life.