Harvard University agrees to settle a 15-year battle, returns 175-year-old images of enslaved ancestors to South Carolina museum

Harvard University has agreed to transfer a set of 175-year-old daguerreotypes — believed to be the earliest known photographs of enslaved people — to a museum in South Carolina as part of a settlement with Tamara Lanier, a descendant of one of the subjects.

The historic images depict Renty, whom Lanier refers to as her great-great-great-grandfather "Papa Renty," and his daughter Delia, both of whom were enslaved in South Carolina in 1850 when the images were taken. The photographs, long held by Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, will now be entrusted to the International African American Museum in Charleston — the same state where Renty and Delia lived in bondage.

Lanier’s lawyer, Joshua Koskoff, called the agreement an “unprecedented” victory for descendants of enslaved people in the U.S.


“To gain control over such historic images — dating back 175 years — and to return them to the family and their rightful cultural context is a moment unlike any other in American history,” Koskoff told the AP.

A 15-Year Fight for Justice

Lanier, who lives in Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against Harvard in 2019, accusing the university of “wrongful possession” and exploiting the images of Renty and Delia. Her suit challenged Harvard’s use of the images — including their display at a 2017 conference — and criticized the university for charging licensing fees to reproduce them.

The images were originally commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz, a prominent figure who promoted pseudoscientific racial theories to justify slavery. During a tour of Southern plantations, Agassiz selected Renty and Delia to be photographed in dehumanizing poses, stripped to the waist and turned into subjects for so-called racial research.

“To Agassiz, they were not human beings — just specimens,” the lawsuit stated.

Though a lower court initially dismissed Lanier’s claims, the Massachusetts Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2022, acknowledging Harvard’s “complicity in the horrific actions” and opening the door for the current resolution.

A New Home — and a New Chapter
Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, CEO of the International African American Museum, hailed the decision as a turning point:

“This is a moment 175 years in the making,” she said. “Ms. Lanier’s courage and perseverance in reclaiming her family’s story is an example for us all.”

The museum pledged to work closely with Lanier to ensure the story of Renty and Delia is told authentically and with dignity — not by institutions that once denied their humanity.

“It’s not enough to move the images from one powerful institution to another,” said Koskoff. “The power lies in allowing these images to breathe — and for the story to be told by those to whom it truly belongs.”

While an undisclosed financial settlement was included in the agreement, Koskoff noted that Harvard has yet to publicly acknowledge Lanier’s familial connection or its broader role in supporting slavery.

“That part remains unsaid,” he noted. “But in the end, truth has a way of surfacing. History may be written by the winners, but over time, those winners can begin to look a lot like losers.”

Lanier, however, remains focused on the future — and the opportunity to reclaim her ancestors’ story in a space that honors them.

“Everybody deserves the right to tell their family’s story,” Koskoff said. “It’s one of the most basic rights we have — and now, she finally can.”