Institutional possession of enslaved people’s images flows from slavery’s property logic.

Evidence

As she wrote, “If Harvard ‘possesses’ these daguerreotypes it can only be because of the cultural logic of its wealth, property, and ownership flows directly from slavery and preserves its lingering presence in our own era.” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 1211

Categorization

• DEFINE: Frames ‘possession’ as a legal-symbolic concept shaped by slavery’s property culture rather than mere physical custody.