From These Roots: My Fight With Harvard to Reclaim My Legacy
by Tamara Lanier
“One woman’s unrelenting mission to reclaim her ancestors’ history and honor their lineage pits her against one of the country’s most powerful institutions: Harvard University.”
– Crown, 2025
REVIEWS
“A stirring first-person account of holding powerful institutions responsible for abetting slavery.”
– Kirkus
“In the book, Lanier makes clear that she’s always been motivated by “love and respect for my mother and the oral history that she so brilliantly held onto.”
“Lanier’s memoir From These Roots comes out of this quest to retrieve her ancestors’ daguerreotypes. More than a personal story, it is a call to confront the enduring afterlife of slavery and the unfinished business of reparative justice in the United States.”
“For Ms. Lanier, the fight is about equality under the law, on behalf of ancestors who couldn’t claim their property because they were property…
Her remarkable true story that reads like a riveting legal thriller, family mystery and historical journey all rolled into one.”
WORKING WITH LIZ
“[My agent] Suzanne Gluck introduced me to the award-winning journalist Liz Welch, who is also an acclaimed writer and collaborator. As luck would have it, Liz had been following my case via news coverage and had previously reached out to Attorney Ben Crump with an offer of assistance. Liz was able to hit the ground running, quickly absorbing the many complicated themes and legal complexities that made this story so compelling.”
– Tamara Lanier