THE SUPREME JUDICIAL Court on Thursday revived a lawsuit brought by a woman who claims Harvard University caused her emotional distress when she sought information about and the return of nude photographs a Harvard professor took of her slave ancestors in 1850. Tamara Lanier sued Harvard seeking return of the photographs and payment of damages. […]
Slavery
Posted inArts and Culture
SJC taking up challenge to Harvard’s ownership of slave photos
IN 1850, Harvard professor Louis Agassiz selected seven slaves on a South Carolina plantation to be photographed nude, as part of his attempt to prove the theory of “polygenism.” The theory was that Whites and Blacks were parts of different species, and Whites were inherently superior. Today, no one disputes that Agassiz’s theory was wrong […]
Posted inPolitics, Race/Racism
Janey invokes slavery, birtherism in rejecting vax mandates
RULES RELATED TO the ever-changing pandemic, where the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to quickly shift to a picture of dark days ahead, can be hard to agree on. In rejecting the idea of requiring proof of vaccination to enter restaurants or other gathering spots, Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey took the […]
Posted inOpinion
Renaming Faneuil Hall would not erase history
IN A LOCAL TV news station poll this month, more than 90 percent of viewers opposed renaming Faneuil Hall, an iconic civic edifice in Boston which has been a magnet for tourist and elementary school day-trippers. Yet, all across the nation, large cities and small municipalities are taking sure-footed measures toward removing or renaming monuments, […]