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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
NEWS
APRIL 21, 2023
LANIER V. HARVARD
Lawsuit Over Daguerreotypes Proceeds EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. The lawsuit Lanier filed against Harvard over images of enslaved people has moved to discovery. BY JASMINE PALMA AND TESS C. WAYLAND CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
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revived lawsuit filed by Tamara K. Lanier against Harvard over its possession of daguerreotypes she alleges are of her enslaved ancestors will proceed to discovery, a Massachusetts state judge ruled at a hearing last Thursday. Lanier first filed suit against Harvard in 2019, alleging that the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology wrongfully possesses daguerreotypes depicting Renty and Delia, two enslaved people whom Lanier claims are her ancestors. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court partially overturned a lower court’s decision to dismiss the suit and ruled that Lanier had the grounds to sue the
University for emotional distress in June 2022. At Thursday’s hearing, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Barry-Smith ruled from the bench against Harvard’s December 2022 motion to strike clauses from the Lanier team’s third amended complaint filed in October 2022. These clauses claim that the University violated the rights of Renty and Delia by continuing to hold the daguerreotypes and that it breached its duty of care to Lanier by “publicly and cavalierly dismissing” her ancestral claim to Renty and Delia. Barry-Smith noted that a standard case typically takes a year to go to trial from this point, though he added it could differ in this instance. Barry-Smith also ruled that Lanier did not need to provide further details to support her claims of emotional distress, saying that the “same set of facts” could be used to determine whether Lanier’s allegations will “rise to the level” of negligence “or worse.” Barry-Smith did not provide a
ruling on Lanier’s requests for relief, as he needs to know if he has the discretion to do so under Massachusetts statutes. He said he will issue a decision “very soon,” adding that his inclination is to wait until trial to rule on what relief Lanier is entitled to. During the hearing, Harvard’s defense attorney Anton Metlitsky reiterated arguments made in the University’s December 2022 motion to dismiss Lanier’s emotional distress claim. Metlitsky said that Lanier’s request for the restitution of the daguerreotypes to her family is a “form of relief just cannot be available” after the SJC maintained in June 2022 that Lanier does not have a legal property claim to the daguerreotypes. If Lanier had only brought the property charges in the initial suit, and not the charges of emotional distress, Mitlitsky said, “the case would be over. We wouldn’t be here.” Lanier’s team argued that the case should proceed to trial and a jury should decide whether she had equitable grounds to repossess the daguerreotypes as a form
of punitive damages. In addition, Metlitsky argued during the hearing that the University seeks to keep the daguerreotypes for educational purposes and “show them in context.” “That is not possible when there is a legal cloud hanging over the title,” Metlitsky said. One of Lanier’s lead attorneys, Benjamin L. Crump, argued that Lanier, rather than Harvard, should educate the public about the history of Renty and Delia. “Ms. Lanier has always wanted to have those daguerreotypes to be used to educate the public on the evils of slavery,” Crump said. “What she has a problem with is that Harvard feels, because of their arrogance, that they’re in the best position to use the daguerreotypes.” After the hearing, Lanier said in an interview that she was “over the moon excited” that the case will move forward. “I was a little apprehensive going into the hearing, but the moment the judge started speaking, I just felt that he had really thor-
oughly reviewed the Supreme Court decision and that decision is a stinging indictment of Harvard,” Lanier said. Joshua D. Koskoff, one of Lanier’s attorneys, said in an interview after the hearing that he is interested in collecting testimonies from former University President Drew G. Faust and current University President Lawrence S. Bacow about their justification for maintaining possession of the daguerreotypes and for their treatment of Lanier. Peabody and Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an emailed statement that the University is “hopeful the Court’s ruling will allow Harvard to explore an appropriate home for the daguerreotypes” that makes them “more accessible to a broader segment of the public and to tell the stories of the enslaved people that they depict.” The daguerreotypes were commissioned by Louis Agassiz, a Harvard biologist that researched polygenism — a pseudoscientific and racist field that
maintains race determines genetic superiority. Susanna M. Moore, a descendant of Agassiz, expressed her support for Lanier’s case and called on Harvard to return the daguerreotypes to Lanier in an interview after the hearing. “It seems to me that in certain circumstances, moral authority needs to take the upper hand over technical issues with the law, and it’s about time for us to recognize what slavery meant in this country,” she said. Lanier’s daughter Shonrael Lanier said in an interview after the hearing that the yearslong legal process has been “bittersweet” but is hopeful that the discovery and trial will allow the world to know Renty “for the man that he was and not for what the man that Harvard claims that he is or isn’t.” “It’s been over 170 years in the making,” Koskoff said. “Finally, we’re going to get to tell this story to a jury.” jasmine.palma@thecrimson.com tess.wayland@thecrimson.com
Harvard OCS Becomes Mignone Center for Career Success BY J. SELLERS HILL AND NIA L. ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
The Bow & Arrow Press is located in the B-entryway of Adams House. Tutors hold weekly events at the press. ARIANA -DALIA VLAD—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Bow & Arrow Press To Leave Adams House After Renovations BY JOYCE E. KIM AND JACKSON C. SENNOTT CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
For more than 45 years, the Bow & Arrow Press — a student-run letterpress studio founded in 1978 — has quietly resided in the basement of one of Harvard’s undergraduate residences, Adams House, serving as a gathering place and creative venue for Harvard students and alumni. But as the House continues its ongoing renovations, Adams Faculty Deans Mercedes C. Becerra ’91 and Salmaan A. Keshavjee informed Press manager Heather Hughes, a House non-resident tutor, on Monday via email that the studio’s location in the basement of Westmorly Court’s B-entryway will become a common room following completion of the building’s renewal in 2025. Becerra and Keshavjee wrote the email, obtained by The Crimson, in response to a message by Jeffrey E. Seifert ’81, a former Crimson editor, asking to keep the Press in Adams House following renovations. Hughes and Adams non-resident tutor Jonathan L. Biderman, who also manages the Press, said the message contradicted assurances given during a 2019 meeting with House Renewal architects and Project team members that the studio would remain in Adams after renovations are completed. The message was repeated in another meeting with the same group of architects and team members late last year, according to Hughes, in which they discussed the temporary storage of Press supplies during renovation and presented floor plans for the renovated studio in the same location. But several months later, plans for the Press have taken a different direction. “The plan, which has been in
place for years, has been walked back without any community involvement either from Adams residents or from the Bow and Arrow community,” Hughes said in an interview at the 45th-anniversary celebration of the Press, which took place this past weekend. The move will require the storage and maintenance of the historic printing materials — including a Vandercook printing press, a manual printing press from 1914, a Chandler & Price tabletop printing press from mid- to late-1800s, and more than 1,000 printing blocks — prior to the start of Westmorly renovations. While Press supplies remain in storage, many campus programs — including workshops, introductory courses, and weekly Open Press nights — which use the studio will be temporarily paused. Andrew S. Birsh ’78, who helped found the press in 1978, described the press and these programs as “a fusion place for creativity” and an “important creative outlet.” “That’s part of the great value that the accessibility and openness of the press has,” Birsh said. “It provides an educational opportunity that most people didn’t even know they could receive.” “The press’ history is pretty well known to the people who work there, and they do feel that they’re part of a developing process that should continue in the future,” Birsh added.” Some Adams affiliates say they fear the move will change the reputationally “weird” nature of the House. “I think it’s like a perfect place for Adams House,” Carly Braille ’26 said. “It’s the spirit of Adams: quirky, cool, old.” Keshavjee, the Adams Faculty Dean, wrote in an email to The Crimson that the plan will not shut down the Press. “In fact, our hope is for the Bow
& Arrow Press to continue its operations at another site in the Harvard community,” Keshavjee wrote. “We are working with the Dean of the College, and through his office, various campus partners, to secure a new home for the Press.” Hughes and Biderman, the Press managers, said they believe Adams residents should be included in conversations about the location of the studio following renovations. “We have not been part of discussions happening about what is going to be the fate of the press going forward,” Hughes said. “If it’s going to cease to exist then why not be open about it,” Biderman added. “Why not involve people in the conversation, and let them try to save it before it has disappeared?” James J. Barondess ’79, who also helped found the press, said he hopes Harvard will “meaningfully support the press in the future.” “A lot of people outside Harvard know and love to press,” he said. “I’d love to see that grow in some way and get cemented in a financially sustainable way.” As the interview came to a close at the Press anniversary celebration, Hughes demonstrated the art of letterpress, placing a blank page into two metal teeth, sliding the long cylinders along the press, and producing a note that read “thank you.” Then, rolling the Vandercook press back, she explained, “There are four things you have to have to do printmaking. You need the thing to print, you need ink, you need paper, and you need pressure.” “Our fifth ingredient is remaining in our space and with our community,” Hughes said. joyce.kim@thecrimson.com jackson.sennott@thecrimson.com
Harvard’s Office of Career Services has been renamed the Mignone Center for Career Success following a “generous” donation to the College from Allison Hughes Mignone ’94 and her husband Roberto A. Mignone ’92, the career center announced Sunday. The sum of the donation was not announced. Both donors, who also received their MBAs from Harvard Business School, have a history of generosity toward the College. In 2016, they contributed to the construction of a new rugby facility, which was subsequently named the Roberto A. Mignone Field. Roberto Mignone is the founder and managing partner of New York-based investment management firm Bridger Management LLC. He also serves as vice chair of the American Museum of Natural History and as a trustee of the New York University Langone Medical Center. Allison Mignone served as cochair of the Class of 1994 Reunion Gift Committee and was named vice chair of the Museum of Natural History’s capital campaign.
The pair “have always been passionate about fostering strong academic advising and in particular career support for Harvard students and graduates to ensure they achieve the career success they aspire to,” Mignone Center Director Emanuel Contomanolis wrote in a Tuesday statement.
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A series of discussions with senior College leadership led to a generous gift to the College. Emanuel Contomanolis Mignone Center Director
“A series of discussions with senior College leadership led to a generous gift to the College, including specifically earmarked support to the Office of Career Services. In recognition of that gift, the office has been renamed the Mignone Center for Career Success,” he wrote. According to the statement, the center’s new name is intended to reflect its vision for “success specifically through the eyes of the learners.” Contomanolis wrote that the
gift has enabled the career office to renovate the first floor of their Dunster Street office building, “resulting in an open, far more inviting and engaging space.” Contomanolis added that the center is also working to implement other initiatives supported by the gift, including a new website, more accessible career outcome data, and the introduction of a new interview practice platform. The new platform, called “Big Interview,” offers “virtual interview practice and Ai feedback to improve performance,” according to Contomanolis’ email. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com
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The newly renamed Mignone Center for Career Success is located at 54 Dunster St. ARIANA-DALIA VLAD—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
