The incredible story of a gay interracial love affair in the midst of WWII

"On February 4, 1943, the minister of the interior informed the chief of police in Rome that although no charges were made against African American Reed Edwin Peggram and Dane Arne Gerdahn Hauptmann, their 'overly intimate relationship' was deplored but tolerated by the local authorities in Montecarlo. He reported that Reed and Arne were living together in a single room with a single bed."

"Reed was told to leave. He departed Montecarlo two weeks later and was sent to Bagni di Lucca, a commune in Tuscany at the foothills of the Appenine Mountains. In May 1943, Italian officials warned Arne not to go to Bagni di Lucca for any reason."

"Reed Peggram was born in 1914 in Boston and was raised primarily by his grandmother, a janitor and cleaning lady. He attended Boston Latin School and Harvard for his undergraduate and master's degrees. Reed met Arne, born in 1916 in Copenhagen, in May 1939 in Paris while Reed was studying decadence in 19th century French literature at the Sorbonne."

In February 1943, Italian interior ministry officials discovered that African American scholar Reed Edwin Peggram and Danish artist Dane Arne Gerdahn Hauptmann were living together in Montecarlo in an intimate relationship. Though no formal charges were filed, authorities labeled them degenerates engaged in sexual perversion. An anonymous informant reported their living situation to police. The minister of the interior ordered one of them transferred to another municipality. Reed was forced to leave Montecarlo and relocated to Bagni di Lucca in Tuscany within two weeks. Italian officials subsequently warned Arne against visiting Bagni di Lucca. Reed, born in Boston in 1914, was a Harvard-educated scholar studying French literature. Arne, born in Copenhagen in 1916, was a fine arts student. They met in Paris in 1939 and fled to Italy in 1940 to escape Nazi occupation.

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