Untenable, Unchristian, and Unconstitutional

Clara J. McKenney donated her residence to the city of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1924 for use as a free library. She gave the building as a memorial to her husband, William Robertson McKenney, a well-respected lawyer who had practiced in Petersburg for many years. Clara McKenney's deed of transfer stipulated that the library was "to be maintained for both white and colored persons: all of the building ... including the first floor and all above that [was] to be for the exclusive use of white persons; and the basement of the building [was] to be kept and maintained for the exclusive use of colored persons with separate entrance and exit thereto."