Lawsuit: Harvard 'shamelessly' profits from photos of slaves
<p>A Connecticut woman says Harvard University has "shamelessly" turned a profit from images of two 19th-century slaves she says are her ancestors.</p>
News 12 Staff
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Mar 21, 2019, 9:44 AM
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Updated 1,867 days ago
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By COLLIN BINKLEY
AP Education Writer
AP Education Writer
BOSTON (AP) - A Connecticut woman says Harvard University has "shamelessly" turned a profit from images of two 19th-century slaves she says are her ancestors.
Tamara Lanier, of Norwich, says in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Harvard has ignored her request to turn over the photos. Her lawsuit in Massachusetts state court asks Harvard to relinquish them and pay unspecified damages.
A message was left with Harvard seeking comment.
The images depict a South Carolina slave named Renty and his daughter, Delia. Lanier says she is a direct descendant.
Lanier's suit says the photos were commissioned by former Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz, whose ideas were used to support the enslavement of Africans.
The lawsuit says Harvard requires "hefty" licensing fees to reproduce the photos, and has used one image on the cover of a book.
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