Harvard sued over allegedly profiting from 1850s images of American slaves

Harvard University has been sued over its licensing of daguerreotypes believed to be the first images of American slaves. The lawsuit was filed by Tamara Lanier, who says she is the direct descendant of Renty, the man featured alongside his daughter, Delia, in the daguerreotypes. The suit was filed on March 20 in the Middlesex County Superior Court. The daguerreotypes were commissioned in 1850 by Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-born Harvard professor who sought the images in support of ...