6 days ago
Harvard agrees to relinquish photos of enslaved people to descendant in Norwich
NORWICH, Conn. (WTNH) — A Norwich woman is claiming victory Thursday night after Harvard agrees to relinquish possession of early photographs of slaves.
Tamara Lanier says Renty, a slave in South Carolina, was her great, great, great, grandfather who taught himself how to read.
Harvard agrees to relinquish early photos of enslaved people, ending a legal battle
In 1850, he and his daughter Delia were the subject of daguerreotypes, an early type of photograph.
'The reason the daguerreotypes were created in the first place was to prove white supremacy,' Lanier said.
She said the nude photos were commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz.
'As a mother of two daughters I can only imagine the trauma associated with such an experience,' Lanier said.
In 2019, she filed a lawsuit against Harvard to try to get the 175 year old photographs released to her family.
'Delia during the taking of the daguerreotypes actually cried,' said Lanier.
The lawsuit claims Agassiz announced to the men gathered in the Charleston Literary Club, 'The brain of a negro is that of the imperfect brain of a seven-month's infant in the womb of a White.'
'They gave justification for black inferiority and slavery,' Lanier explained.
In what she calls a landmark settlement, Harvard has agreed to relinquish the daguerreotypes from its Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to the International African American Museum in South Carolina.
The university released this statement: 'Harvard University has long been eager to place the Zealy Daguerreotypes with another museum or other public institution to put them in the appropriate context and increase access to them for all Americans.'
It went on to say: 'While we are grateful to Ms. Lanier for sparking important conversations about these images… Harvard has not been able to confirm that Ms. Lanier is related to the individuals in the daguerreotypes.'
'What I shared with them were official government records, official probate records,' Lanier said.
She said U.S. Census information proves her heritage.
For those who do not know the story of Renty and Delia it is all laid out in a book Lanier authored entitled 'From These Roots' which also chronicles Lanier's fight from start to finish.
'The legacy will continue through him,' Lanier said while she was holding her grandson Elliott during the News8 interview.
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