Harvard University has transferred ownership of fifteen daguerreotypes from around 1850, considered the earliest surviving photographs of enslaved African Americans, to the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. The settlement ends an eight-year legal dispute with Tamara Lanier, who claimed the images depict her ancestors, Renty and Delia, and argued they were taken without consent for the discredited biologist Louis Agassiz. The Massachusetts courts had previously ruled that ownership remained with the photographer, but allowed Lanier to pursue emotional distress claims over Harvard's continued use of the images in marketing materials.
The settlement matters because it marks a rare restitution of cultural artifacts tied to the legacy of slavery, setting a precedent for how institutions handle contested historical materials. The transfer places the daguerreotypes in a Southern museum focused on African American history, opening public access after decades in Harvard's Peabody Museum. Lanier's attorneys called it a "singular victory for descendants of the enslaved," and the case comes amid broader scrutiny of Harvard's equity practices, including a $2.2 billion funding freeze related to its handling of Palestinian solidarity campaigns.