Harvard gives up slave photos amid descendant's legal fight

After years of legal challenges, photos of an enslaved man and his daughter held at a Harvard University museum will be transferred to an African American museum in South Carolina where the family is believed to have lived.  

The nude photos of Renty and his daughter, Delia, taken in March 1850 against their will for a Harvard University professor, were the subject of a 2019 lawsuit filed by Tamara Lanier against Harvard.

The photos commissioned by Louis Agassiz, a 19th-century Harvard biologist, are believed to be the earliest photos of American slaves. The images, known as daguerreotypes and taken in a South Carolina studio,  were used to promote racist beliefs.

Lanier of Connecticut has complained that Harvard has profited over the years off of the photos.

"Harvard played a role in the darkest chapter in American history,'' she said in a statement. "This is a small step in the right direction towards fully acknowledging that history and working to rectify it.”

Lanier, who believes she is a descendant of Renty, has said her extensive research proved what her mother had told her for years about the family connection. But she said Harvard wouldn't acknowledge that.

"I've talked to people all over the state, all over the country, all over the world, and everybody is just seemingly astonished at this discovery," Lanier told USA TODAY in 2019. "Everybody but Harvard."

The pictures were held at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Lanier and Harvard reached an agreement on May 28 to relocate the images.

Harvard officials said the university has not been able to confirm that Lanier is related to the individuals in the daguerreotypes. Still, officials said, they are grateful to Lanier for “sparking important conversations about these images.’’

The university has looked to place the daguerreotypes with another museum or other public institution to put them in the appropriate context and increase access to them, said James Chisholm, director of media relations for Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

“Now that this lawsuit has been resolved, Harvard can move forward towards that goal," he said in a statement. “Throughout this process, Harvard has been committed to stewarding the daguerreotypes in a responsible manner and finding an institutional home for them where their historical significance is appreciated and contributes to a greater understanding of their place in our nation’s history."

In 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Lanier could sue for emotional distress, but that she could not claim ownership of the photos.

Chisholm said because of the court ruling, the university is responsible for transferring the daguerreotypes. It is not clear yet when they will be transferred.

The photos will be transferred to the International African American Museum in Charleston. The two-year-old museum houses artifacts of slavery and features the history enslaved Africans in the state.

Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the museum, said the images' return to South Carolina has been “175 years in the making.”  She said the museum will host a welcome home ceremony for the artifacts.

“It is critical that images such as these never be forgotten, abused, or have their stories slip into untold history," she said in a statement. “It is a weighty privilege to become home to these challenging, but precious artifacts."

Harvard has acknowledged its past history of supporting slavery in the United States and Caribbean islands. Some buildings on campus were funded by slave owners, according to a 2022 report published by the university. The Peabody Museum also has some remains of enslaved Africans and Native Americans.

Contributed: Joey Garrison