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Reed Edwin Peggram, also known as Edwin Reed, (July 26, 1914 - April 20, 1982) was an American-born scholar, translator, teacher, and survivor of the Nazi imprisonment camps during World War II. He was born and raised in Dorchester, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts where he later returned to and died at the age of 67.

Early Life
Reed Edwin Peggram was born on July 26,1914 to Harvey Thomas Peggram and Mary Reed Peggram in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Both of his parents were born in Virginia. His mother worked as a housewife and his father, who had fought in World War I, was a disabled veteran. His father was sent back to Virginia, where he sought long-term recovery at a hospital. After his parents divorced, Peggram’s mother remarried and moved to New Jersey. His grandmother, Mrs. Laura Peggram worked as a school custodian and took care of Reed for much of his life shortly after.

Education
Despite both of Peggram’s parents not attending college, he became the first in his family to break new ground as a successful scholar, both in the U.S. and abroad. He began his schooling in 1927 at Public Latin School, where he was actively a member of the literary club, Dramatic Club, as well as a French and Latin tutor. In 1931, Peggram received a Cat Award prize for “Exemplary Conduct and Fidelity,” the Conduct Above Criticism Award and the Perfection in Attendance Award. His interests in the romance languages throughout his studies would later inspire his teaching of linguistics later on.

Although Peggram faced multiple financial obstacles in order to pursue his studies throughout his childhood, funding from Veterans Aid would temporarily alleviate some of those problems. Peggram’s grandmother would soon support his university studies while at Harvard. Upon graduation, he would graduate receive his Bachelor’s degree and graduate Magna cum laude with High Honors in Romance languages and Literature. Peggram would receive his Master’s in Comparative Literature from Harvard in 1936 where he would later begin writing his thesis of the Nineteenth Century Decadence, a period of artistic and literary movement centered in Western Europe. He continued his graduate studies at Columbia University from 1936 to 1937 as a Graduate Residence Fellow in Comparative Literature. He did not earn a degree from Columbia Graduate School but did receive the Graduate Residence Scholarship. He later returned to Harvard in 1937 for a year to complete his Phd, requirements, specifically using Comparative Literature as a external source for creative writing and nature criticism.

Peggram was awarded the John Harvard Fellowship and the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1938 to pursue his study abroad program at the University of Paris. He did not earn a degree from the University of Paris, but did publish several articles about linguistics and comparative literature. He met Gerdh Hauptmann, a fine arts scholar and painter, while studying in Paris. Hauptmann was a Denmark native who quickly became Peggram’s inseparable friend throughout much of World War II. Upon meeting, the two students would study at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark in 1939.

Peggram extracurricular involvements relied heavily on his studies. His involvement in the German Club, Poetry Club, and elected membership of Phi Beta Kappa Society of the Alpha Chapter of Massachusetts allocated several academic honors for Peggram. He made the Dean’s List for three consecutive years and was awarded the medal of the Comite France-Amerique of France for a declamation in French.

Adult Life
Peggram spent several months in various prisons throughout Germany, France, and Italy. After eventually arriving in Denmark, Peggram and Hauptmann formed an inseparable relationship and considered moving to the states together. Their plans would be hindered by financial limitations that seemed reasonable if not for their lack of documentation and money. Peggram had agreed to move back to the states so long as he was given financial support to make the trek back home. Peggram was referred to various teaching positions both at Claflin University in South Carolina and Harvard University in Massachusetts.

The German occupation of Denmark during WWII forced Peggram and Hauptmann to flee. A death sentence came upon them after an agreement between the two, whom had stood alongside each other through troubling times. A lifelike prison would surround them in much of German territory. After turning themselves in at the border of France, Peggram was allowed to leave but Hauptmann was forced to fight alongside German rule. Both men refused to be separated and were held in solitary confinement and sentenced to death. They spent two years in German and Italian concentration camps but eventually escaped. Peggram and Hauptmann found safety with the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy. They still had no identification and therefore could not return to the U.S. Immediately following their escape from the Nazi concentration camps, Peggram and Hauptmann faced four years of hospitalization due to nervous breakdowns and mental health issues.

Peggram describes much of his experience as an informative one. At this point in his life, Peggram reveals a lenient support for the youth civilization hoping to address issues of social stability and a reconstruction of society. While his seven years in Europe proved to be an intense period of social and political unrest, he finds little motivation and too much comfortability to work as a professional translator. However by 1975, Peggram continued to work as a translator and teacher in his hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts. He studied linguistics, specifically ancient Greek and dedicated much of his time to the expansion of language and his found again freedom. Peggram never married or had children. It is suspected that his letters to Harvard colleague Leonard Bernstein suggest his homosexuality and romantic relationship with longtime friend and colleague Gerdh Hauptmann throughout his time abroad. Hauptmann’s declarations also suggest a period of domestic unrest between the two in the midst of a divisional world.

Death
Reed Edwin Peggram died on April 20, 1982 in Dorchester, Massachusetts at the age of 67. He did not have any children and was retired at the time of his death.

Career
Peggram knew seven languages including English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Danish. He worked as a teacher of linguistics and as a translator. Throughout his life, Peggram published several articles of comparative literature and scholarly works.

Publications
“Andre Gide: Novelist,” Twice a Year, New York, 1937

A Neglected Dutch “Amphitryon” of 1679 / Source: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 36 No. 1 (Jan., 1941), pp. 112-115

The First French and English Translations of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, The Modern Language Review Vol. 35, No. 3 (Jul., 1940) pp. 330 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Francisco Ormondo Velazquez (talk • contribs) 06:54, 20 July 2018 (UTC)