Harvard’s Peabody required a publisher before considering Lanier’s request for the Renty images.

Evidence

A woman named Jessica Desany Ganong, the imaging services coordinator at the Peabody, replied: “Thank you for submitting your image request form. I notice that you do not yet have a publisher and date of publication for this request. We would be happy to consider your request once these are in place. Please know that due to the sensitive nature of these images, your request will be reviewed by a committee and may take up to five weeks to process.” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 301

Categorization

• XREF: Crystallizes the archival-gatekeeping mechanism central to her whole genealogy reconstruction; connects to her larger property-law framing of who controls the enslaved ancestor’s image.