Latest news with #Koskoff
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Harvard relinquishing early slave photos in settlement with descendants
Harvard University reached a settlement Wednesday with the descendants of enslaved people who had their photos taken by a university professor back in the 1800s. Tamara Lanier, the great-great-great granddaughter of one of the individuals in the photographs, had pressed for the school to give up the pictures in what became a 15-year legal battle, The Associated Press reported. The photos, taken by a Harvard professor for a racist study in 1850, will be moved from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to the International African American Museum in South Carolina. Joshua Koskoff, Lanier's attorney, told the AP it was an 'unprecedented' legal victory. 'I think it's one of one in American history, because of the combination of unlikely features: to have a case that dates back 175 years, to win control over images dating back that long of enslaved people — that's never happened before,' Koskoff said. In the images, Renty and Delia, enslaved people at a South Carolina plantation, were forced to pose topless and were photographed from several angles. Harvard said it had '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.' 'This settlement now allows us to move forward towards that goal,' the university added. 'While we are grateful to Ms. Lanier for sparking important conversations about these images, this was a complex situation, particularly since Harvard has not confirmed that Ms. Lanier was related to the individuals in the daguerreotypes.' The Hill has reached out to Harvard and Koskoff for further comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-05-2025
- General
- The Hill
Harvard relinquishing early slave photos in settlement with descendants
Harvard University reached a settlement on Wednesday with the descendants of enslaved people who had their photos taken by a university professor back in the 1800s. Tamara Lanier, the great-great-great granddaughter of one of the individuals in the photographs, had pressed for the school to give up the pictures in what became a 15-year legal battle, The Associated Press reported. The photos, taken by a Harvard professor for a racist study in 1850, will be moved from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to the International African American Museum in South Carolina. Joshua Koskoff, Lanier's attorney, told the AP it was an 'unprecedented' legal victory. 'I think it's one of one in American history, because of the combination of unlikely features: to have a case that dates back 175 years, to win control over images dating back that long of enslaved people — that's never happened before,' Koskoff said. In the images, Renty and Delia, enslaved people at a South Carolina plantation, were forced to pose topless and photographed from several angles. Harvard said it had '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.' 'This settlement now allows us to move forward towards that goal,' the university added. 'While we are grateful to Ms. Lanier for sparking important conversations about these images, this was a complex situation, particularly since Harvard has not confirmed that Ms. Lanier was related to the individuals in the daguerreotypes.' The Hill has reached out to Harvard and Koskoff for further comment.
CNN
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Uvalde approves settlement with families of Robb Elementary victims
The Uvalde City Council unanimously approved a settlement with the families of the victims from the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in 2022 on Tuesday. The final agreement comes nearly a year after it was first announced and a month shy of the three-year mark since a teenage gunman stormed into two adjoining classrooms, in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers while hundreds of law enforcement resources inexplicably waited outside. Uvalde will pay the families a total of $2 million from its insurance coverage as part of the settlement. Victims' families previously told CNN they wouldn't seek a higher payout from the city to prevent the place they call home from going bankrupt. They are also seeking damages from other institutions, including the Texas state police, involved in the failed response. Josh Koskoff, an attorney representing 19 families whose loved ones were murdered or injured, said in a statement that 'faced with a difficult decision, these families worked with the community they love to make things right without creating deeper economic hardship.' 'The road to healing is long and painful, but we are hopeful that this agreement enables families who lost so much and the city they call home to continue that process,' Koskoff said. 'Nothing can ever make up for the losses and harms these families endured on May 24, 2022, but (the) agreement marks an important step forward in advancing community healing and ensuring our City forever honors the lives we tragically lost and supporting all surviving victims,' Uvalde Mayor Hector Luevano said in a statement to CNN. Luevano said the settlement shows the 'city is committed to honoring their memories by providing the necessary support.' As part of the settlement, the city will make changes at the local police department, including a 'fitness for duty' standard for police officers and better emergency training. May 24 will now be an annual Day of Remembrance, and a permanent memorial will be erected to honor the victims. The city says it will also continue to support mental health services for the families and survivors. There are several pending lawsuits by the families against the people they blame for a disastrous police response, where nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited more than an hour to confront the teenage gunman. The families are also suing 92 officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated School District, and individual employees. The slow response, documented at length in a series of investigative reports by CNN, was in clear contradiction of law enforcement's active shooter protocols, which direct officers to stop the threat immediately.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Uvalde City Council unanimously approves settlement with mass shooting victim families
April 23 (UPI) -- The Uvalde City Council Tuesday evening, unanimously approved a settlement with families of Robb Elementary School mass shooting victims. Josh Koskoff, one of the lawyers representing families of the victims, confirmed the settlement but did not detail the terms. He told ABC News that in addition to a monetary settlement, the families of the two teachers and 19 students killed in the shooting wanted the city to maintain the cemetery where many of the mass shooting victims are buried. The settlement also commits the city to support the Uvalde Police Department's Guardian initiative that includes enhanced emergency training and evaluation for officers. Mayor Hector Luevano also said during the Tuesday night city council meeting that the city of Uvalde will work with victim families on a permanent memorial. "Nothing can ever make up the losses and harms these families endured on May 24, 2022, but today's agreement marks an important step forward in advancing community healing, ensuring our city forever honors the lives we tragically lost, and supporting all surviving victims in the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting," Luevano said. The city council approval came 11 months after Koskoff announced in May 2024 that the city agreed to pay $2 million and create a permanent memorial. That suit isn't the only one filed against Uvalde over the Robb Elementary shooting. Another one accuses the Texas Department of Public Safety and 92 officers of failing to engage the gunmen for 77 minutes after arriving at the school. "For 77 minutes, 26 members of the Uvalde Police Department failed to confront an 18-year-old kid armed with an AR-15, and no disciplinary action has ever been taken -- no firings, no demotions, no transparency -- and the families remain eager for that to change," Koskoff said in a May 2024 statement about police reaction.
