Harvard’s ownership claim rested on a never-documented gift

Evidence

Harvard had never supplied any of that documentation to me, or my lawyers. Why did they feel they had the right to own the artifacts? Jarrett was asking the same questions as I was: “Who precisely gifted the daguerreotypes to the museum and the university? When precisely did such a gift take place? And were such persons authorized to make such a gift?” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 1226

Categorization

• QUESTION: These specific unanswered questions about the gift’s donor, date, and authorization define the evidentiary hole Harvard never filled.