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Pennsylvania v. Board of Trusts

U.S.
Apr 29, 1957
353 U.S. 230 (1957)

Summary

holding that a state agency created under state law was a state actor

Summary of this case from Brentwood Acad. v. Tenn. Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass’n

Opinion

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, EASTERN DISTRICT.

No. 769.

Decided April 29, 1957.

By will probated in 1831, Stephen Girard left a fund to the City of Philadelphia in trust for the erection, maintenance and operation of a "college," providing that it was to admit "as many poor white male orphans, between the ages of six and ten years, as the said income shall be adequate to maintain." The college was established and is now being operated by a Board appointed under a Pennsylvania statute. Held: The Board is an agency of the State, and its refusal to admit Negro boys to the college solely because of their race violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483. Pp. 230-231.

386 Pa. 548, 127 A.2d 287, reversed and remanded.

Thomas D. McBride, Attorney General, and Lois G. Forer, Deputy Attorney General, for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Abraham L. Freedman and David Berger for the City of Philadelphia et al., and William T. Coleman, Jr., Raymond Pace Alexander and Louis Pollak for Foust et al., appellants.

Owen B. Rhoads for appellee.


The motion to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction is granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1257 (2). Treating the papers whereon the appeal was taken as a petition for writ of certiorari, 28 U.S.C. § 2103, the petition is granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1257 (3).

Stephen Girard, by a will probated in 1831, left a fund in trust for the erection, maintenance, and operation of a "college." The will provided that the college was to admit "as many poor white male orphans, between the ages of six and ten years, as the said income shall be adequate to maintain." The will named as trustee the City of Philadelphia. The provisions of the will were carried out by the State and City and the college was opened in 1848. Since 1869, by virtue of an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature, the trust has been administered and the college operated by the "Board of Directors of City Trusts of the City of Philadelphia." Pa. Laws 1869, No. 1258, p. 1276; Purdon's Pa. Stat. Ann., 1957, Tit. 53, § 16365.

In February 1954, the petitioners Foust and Felder applied for admission to the college. They met all qualifications except that they were Negroes. For this reason the Board refused to admit them. They petitioned the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia County for an order directing the Board to admit them, alleging that their exclusion because of race violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The State of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia joined in the suit also contending the Board's action violated the Fourteenth Amendment. The Orphans' Court rejected the constitutional contention and refused to order the applicants' admission. 4 Pa. D. C. 2d 671 (Orph.Ct. Philadelphia). This was affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. 386 Pa. 548, 127 A.2d 287.

The Board which operates Girard College is an agency of the State of Pennsylvania. Therefore, even though the Board was acting as a trustee, its refusal to admit Foust and Felder to the college because they were Negroes was discrimination by the State. Such discrimination is forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483. Accordingly, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.


Summaries of

Pennsylvania v. Board of Trusts

U.S.
Apr 29, 1957
353 U.S. 230 (1957)

holding that a state agency created under state law was a state actor

Summary of this case from Brentwood Acad. v. Tenn. Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass’n

holding that Girard College was a government actor for constitutional purposes even though it "had been built and maintained pursuant to a privately erected trust"

Summary of this case from Ky. Emps. Ret. Sys. v. Seven Counties Servs., Inc.

holding private organization to be state actor where the organization was controlled by a state agency

Summary of this case from Leshko v. Servis

holding private organization to be state actor where the organization was controlled by a state agency

Summary of this case from KAMINSKI v. TOWNSHIP OF TOMS RIVER

holding private organization to be state actor where the organization was controlled by a state agency

Summary of this case from Dipietro v. New Jersey Family Support Payment Center

holding that a private organization was a state actor because it was controlled by a state agency

Summary of this case from Liles v. Revetaw, Inc.

finding state action where a private entity is deemed an "agency of the State"

Summary of this case from Adams v. Teamsters Local 115

In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of City Trusts of the City of Philadelphia, 1957, 353 U.S. 230, 77 S.Ct. 806, 1 L.Ed.2d 792, the Supreme Court held that Girard College, regardless of the language of the trust limiting students to white students, should be desegregated.

Summary of this case from Palmer v. Thompson

In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of City Trusts of City of Philadelphia, 353 U.S. 230, 77 S.Ct. 806, 1 L.Ed.2d 792, the Supreme Court held that the exclusion of Negro boys from Girard College violated the Fourteenth Amendment although the college was established with funds provided under the will of Stephen Girard, which directed that admissions be limited to white male orphans.

Summary of this case from Eaton v. Bd., Mgrs., James Walker Mem. Hosp

In Pennsylvania v. Board of Trusts, 353 U.S. 230 (1957), the United States Supreme Court held that the administration of a discriminatory trust by an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, benefiting poor male white orphans, was constitutionally impermissible.

Summary of this case from In re Certain Scholarship Funds
Case details for

Pennsylvania v. Board of Trusts

Case Details

Full title:PENNSYLVANIA ET AL. v . BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CITY TRUSTS OF THE CITY OF…

Court:U.S.

Date published: Apr 29, 1957

Citations

353 U.S. 230 (1957)
77 S. Ct. 806

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