Harvard University has agreed to settle a deeply emotional and historically significant lawsuit concerning the ownership and use of daguerreotypes some of the earliest known images of enslaved Black Americans. The images, taken in 1850 by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz, depict enslaved Africans posed nude and semi-nude without consent, dignity, or compensation, to support a racist theory of Black inferiority.
Tamara Lanier, the plaintiff, claims direct descent from Renty, a slave who was photographed nude, and his daughter Delia, who was also photographed partially nude. Lanier has long advocated for the images to be transferred to the International African American Museum in South Carolina, where they were originally taken. She accused Harvard of using the images for commercial purposes, including featuring Renty’s image on the cover of a $40 anthropology textbook published in 2017.
“Since Black Americans were first brought to this country in chains, our pain and trauma have been exploited for capitalistic gain,” Lanier said. She initially asserted her claim to the images 15 years ago, relying on oral family history to establish lineage an important consideration given that many Black Americans lack detailed genealogical records due to the legacy of slavery.
Harvard, which held the daguerreotypes in its Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, has agreed to relinquish the images and offered Lanier a confidential monetary settlement. The university stated it has “long been eager” to steward the images responsibly going forward.
The case highlights the lasting stain of Louis Agassiz’s scientific racism. Agassiz, a Swiss-born biologist and geologist, supported polygenism a discredited theory used to justify slavery and segregation in the U.S. His legacy also prompted the renaming of an elementary school near Harvard to honor Black educator Maria Louise Baldwin, reflecting ongoing efforts to confront historic racism.
Lanier called the settlement “a small step in the right direction” toward fully acknowledging the painful history Harvard played a role in and working to rectify it. This case marks a significant moment in addressing the exploitation of Black trauma and reclaiming dignity for descendants of enslaved ancestors.
