Historic 1850 Photos of Enslaved People Return to Charleston Museum After Harvard Legal Battle

Seven daguerreotypes from 1850, believed to be the first photographs of enslaved people, are being transferred from Harvard University to Charleston's International African American Museum. The images were returned after a seven-year legal dispute with descendants who wanted the photos displayed in South Carolina where the subjects were enslaved.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Family members of enslaved individuals captured in what historians consider the earliest photographs of enslaved people express relief that these historic images are returning to South Carolina.

Following a seven-year court battle, Harvard University has agreed to transfer the photographs to Charleston’s International African American Museum, the institution announced Wednesday.

The daguerreotypes from 1850 show seven enslaved individuals: a man called Renty, his daughter Delia, and five others identified as Jack, Drana, Alfred, Fassena and Jem. These early photographic images captured the subjects unclothed from multiple perspectives and were originally created for a Harvard biologist’s racist studies that supported pro-slavery arguments during the pre-Civil War era.

Charleston’s museum intends to carefully preserve the original daguerreotypes while creating reproductions for public display as the centerpiece of an exhibition exploring the lives of these seven South Carolinians.

The lawsuit was filed by Tamara Lanier, who claims Renty as her great-great-great-grandfather. Lanier pushed for the photographs to be housed at the South Carolina institution because it sits in the same state where her ancestor lived in bondage and where the images were originally captured, according to her legal representative Joshua Koskoff.

“It’s almost spiritual they are coming home. They can breathe at the museum,” Koskoff said.

The court proceedings between Lanier and Harvard moved through Massachusetts courts until both parties reached a settlement agreement in 2025. University officials stated they had always supported transferring the images to an appropriate museum but contested the lawsuit because they could not verify Lanier’s ancestral connection to the photographed individuals.

According to Lanier’s legal team, Harvard generated revenue by licensing these historical images.

“Slavery robbed Renty and Delia of their humanity. But it was Harvard who robbed them of their story,” Koskoff said.

The International African American Museum recently opened at Charleston’s Gadsden’s Wharf, the historic site where nearly half of all enslaved Africans first arrived on American soil.