The Hebrew University Association v. Nye

Ethel Yahuda, widow of Hebrew scholar Abraham Yahuda, publicly announced at a formal luncheon (attended by university officials and Israel's president) that she was giving her late husband's library to Hebrew University (plaintiff), later approving a press release confirming the gift and repeatedly referring to the library as the University's. She began cataloguing and preparing the materials for shipment but died in early 1955 before delivering them, leaving the bulk of her estate instead to a different Hebrew charitable institution. The University sued the executors of her estate (defendants) seeking a declaratory judgment of ownership and an injunction against disposing of the library; the trial court held her luncheon announcement created a trust holding the library for the University, and the executors appealed.