Evans v. Newton

In 1911, U.S. Senator Augustus Bacon devised land to the City of Macon, Georgia to be used as a park limited to white people and managed by white trustees. The City managed the park under these terms for decades, then began admitting African Americans once it concluded it could no longer constitutionally exclude them. Evans (plaintiff), a member of the park's Board of Managers, sued in Georgia state court seeking to have the City removed as trustee and new (segregationist) trustees appointed. The City instead resigned as trustee, and the Georgia courts accepted that resignation and upheld the will's racial restriction as a lawful private bequest. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.