Harvard University is facing another racially charged lawsuit. Amid the ongoing repercussions of a suit alleging that Harvard discriminated against Asian-American students in its admission process, the esteemed university has been hit with another race-related suit, this one stretching back over a century. A woman who says she’s the ancestor of two slaves who were photographed for racist purposes by a Harvard University professor in 1850 has sued the university for “wrongful seizure, possession and monetization of the images,” USA Today reported Wednesday.
The origin of the case is a Swiss-born professor at the university commissioning what may be the earliest daguerreotypes of American slaves. The dehumanizing images were used to promote a theory called polygenism, which claimed that different races did not share a common ancestor.
“Among the photographed: an African man named Renty and his daughter Delia,” USA Today explains. “They were stripped naked and photographed from several angles. Former professor Louis Agassiz, a biologist, had the photos taken to support an erroneous theory called polygenism that he and others used to argue African-Americans were inferior to white people.”
Tamara Lanier, who says she is the direct descendant of Renty and Delia, filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court Wednesday accusing Harvard of wrongfully obtaining and possessing the images. Lanier says the university has dismissed her requests to “stop licensing the pictures for the university’s profit” and continues to degrade her ancestors.
“In an interview with USA TODAY, Lanier said she’s. presented Harvard with information about her direct lineage to Renty since around 2011 but the school has repeatedly turned down her requests to review the research,” the outlet reports.
In response, Lanier hired Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as a Connecticut-based lawyer.
“This will force them to look at my information,” Lanier told USA Today. “It will also force them to publicly have the discussion about who Renty was and restoring him his dignity.”
Lanier is demanding the university give her the photos, which the school still legally owns, and is suing for an unspecified amount. The suit posits eight legal claims, citing “federal law over property rights, the Massachusetts law for the recovery of personal property and a separate state law about the unauthorized use of a name or picture for advertising purposes,” USA Today reports. It also alleges that Harvard is violating the spirit of the 13th Amendment by perpetuating the dehumanizing institution of slavery.
“For years, Papa Renty’s slave owners profited from his suffering – it’s time for Harvard to stop doing the same thing to our family,” she told the paper. The lawsuit echoes Lanier’s comment, alleging that Harvard has “enriched itself” from the racist images through licensing fees.
“Harvard’s refusal to honor our family’s history by acknowledging our lineage and its own shameful past is an insult to Papa Renty’s life and memory,” Lanier said.
Asked for comment, a Harvard spokesperson told USA Today that the university hadn’t been served yet thus could not present its position.
Related: Boston Globe: Harvard Didn’t View Elizabeth Warren As Native American; Here’s The Evidence