A woman is suing Harvard for 'wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation' of images she says depict two of her ancestors.
Harvard University has"shamelessly" turned a profit from photos of two 19th-century slaves while ignoring requests to turn the photos over to the slaves' descendants, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
At the center of the case is a series of 1850 daguerreotypes, an early type of photo, taken of two South Carolina slaves identified as Renty and his daughter, Delia. Both were posed shirtless and photographed from several angles. The images are believed to be the earliest known photos of American slaves.
The suit attacks Harvard for its"exploitation" of Renty's image at a 2017 conference and in other uses. It says Harvard has capitalized on the photos by demanding a"hefty" licensing fee to reproduce the images. It also draws attention to a book Harvard sells for $40 with Renty's portrait on the cover. The, called"From Site to Sight: Anthropology, Photography, and the Power of Imagery," explores the use of photography in anthropology.
The suit also argues that Harvard's continued possession of the images violates the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. The suit says Lanier has verified her genealogical ties to Renty, whom she calls"Papa Renty." She says he is her great-great-great-grandfather.
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