The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, has officially acquired the "1850 Daguerreotypes," the earliest known photographs of enslaved Americans. The set of 15 images, taken by J.T. Zealy, depicts seven enslaved individuals—Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty—and had been held by Harvard University until a recent legal settlement. Harvard had owned the daguerreotypes since they were commissioned in 1850 by natural historian Louis Agassiz.
This acquisition is significant both legally and culturally, concluding a six-year lawsuit by descendant Tamara Lanier who sought to reclaim the images as "spoils of theft." More importantly, it transfers stewardship of these sensitive artifacts to an institution dedicated to African American history, allowing the museum to reframe the photographs from tools of racist pseudoscience into portraits that honor the subjects' humanity, resilience, and legacy.