Brief Fact Summary.

A provision of a will left by a Senator Augustus

Bacon (the Senator) conveyed a park to Macon, Georgia to be used by
whites only. The provision was challenged under the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution
(Constitution).
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Operating a park is a public function and
therefore, the owner is subject to the Fourteenth Amendment of the
Constitution.
Facts. Upon his death, the senator devised land to Macon, Georgia that
was to be used as a park for whites only. The city was named trustee, and
a Board of Managers was created under the trust to administer the park.
The park was eventually opened by the city and Negroes were allowed to
use it. The City argued they could not enforce segregation in a public
park. The Defendants, individual Managers from the Board of Managers
(Defendants) sued to remove the city as trustee so as to effectuate the
Senators will. The city resigned as the trustee and a state court appointed
private trustees to continue the exclusion of Negroes from the park. The
Plaintiffs, a group of Negroes (Plaintiffs), intervened alleging violations of
the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitutions Equal protection clause.
Issue. Is operating a park a public function and therefore subjected to the
Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution?