Lanier sued Harvard for wrongful seizure and expropriation of her enslaved ancestors’ cultural property

Evidence

That we brought this action against Harvard for its wrongful seizure, possession, and expropriation of the cultural property of my Enslaved ancestors. … That the daguerreotypes were illegally commissioned in 1850 by Harvard’s leading scientist, Louis Agassiz, as part of his quest to “prove” Black people’s inherent biological inferiority and thereby justify their subjugation, exploitation, and segregation. … That, at Agassiz’s behest, Renty and Delia were stripped naked and forced to pose for the daguerreotypes without consent, dignity, or compensation. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 849

Categorization

• XREF: Core legal theory of the case — the ‘wrongfully taken property’ claim echoes the reading purpose around property law as the afterlife of slavery.