But to the Lanier family, they are records of her personal family history. “Renty’s descendants may be the first descendants of slave ancestors to be able to get their property rights.”Jonathan Swain, a spokesman for Harvard, declined to comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the images are the “spoils of theft,” because as slaves Renty and Delia were unable to give consent. And it argues that by holding on to the images, Harvard has perpetuated the hallmarks of slavery that prevented African-Americans from holding, conveying or inheriting personal property. Tamara Lanier is suing Harvard University for ownership of daguerreotypes of slaves, whom she counts as ancestors.

Source: bd News24 March 21, 2019 02:03 UTC