The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram: A Queer Black WWII Translator's Story

Discovering a Lost History

• 💡 Historian Ethelene Whitmire serendipitously discovered the story of Reed Peggram, a queer Black translator, after a talk in Copenhagen in 2016.
• 🔑 A relative of Peggram revealed a trove of over 200 letters written by him from Paris, Copenhagen, and Florence during World War II.
• 📚 Whitmire's new book, "The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram," emerged from this family archive, detailing his extraordinary journey.

Early Promise and Societal Barriers

• 🌱 Reed Peggram was a talented student who attended Boston Latin School and Harvard, excelling intellectually.
• 📌 Despite his intellect, letters of reference from Harvard professors and headmasters always mentioned his race, highlighting pervasive racism.
• 👏 His grandmother, Laura Reed, a janitor with a third-grade education, heroically pushed his education and helped him gain access to prestigious institutions.
• 💔 At Harvard, Peggram experienced an unrequited love for Leonard Bernstein, demonstrating his passionate nature.

European Freedom and Wartime Love

• 🚀 Drawn by French culture and literature, Peggram went to Paris on a prestigious scholarship in 1938, seeking freedom and reinvention.
• 💖 He found love with a young Danish artist, Arna Hoffman, and chose to stay in Europe even as World War II began, despite opportunities to return home.
• 🌍 The couple moved to Italy, enduring five years of wartime hardship together.

Wartime Ordeal and Post-War Tragedy

• ⚠️ Life in Italy was miserable and financially dire; they were separated after authorities discovered two men sharing an apartment.
• ⛓️ Peggram and Hoffman were eventually sent to a concentration camp for several months, followed by a period of wandering.
• 🏥 After the war, Peggram spent four years at Medfield State Hospital, undergoing electroshock therapy and possibly a lobotomy.
• 📉 His life, which began with such promise, was dimmed by these experiences, preventing him from achieving his academic aspirations.

A Legacy of Betrayal and Resilience

• 💔 Professor Whitmire reflects that Peggram's dazzling life was ultimately betrayed by both racism and homophobia.
• 💡 His story underscores how societal prejudices prevented him from bringing his partner to the U.S., leading to their wartime odyssey and subsequent suffering.