Bequest Lost Over Racist Provision

More than a generation ago, Dr. Jesse C. Coggins left his entire estate to the Keswick nursing home, which went ahead and erected a building in his name even before it actually got the money.

But last month a judge ruled that Keswick has no right to the estate--now valued at $28.8 million--because it couldn’t honor a last-minute addition to Coggins’ 1962 will: that the building be for white patients only.

Instead, the judge directed that the money go to the University of Maryland Medical Center, which was named in the will as the backup beneficiary in the event Keswick found the conditions “unacceptable.”

Keswick plans to appeal, putting the money on hold for now.

“Here we have an example, we think, of a trial judge who is trying to enforce a racial restriction,” said Edmond B. Nolley Jr., president of Keswick’s board. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s illegal and immoral.”

Coggins died in 1963 at 88. The estate remained in trust until his wife died last year--13 years after Keswick erected the $11-million Coggins building and opened its doors to all races.

Coggins’ stern portrait hangs in the lobby, keeping a baleful eye on residents, one-third of whom aren’t white.

The trustee for the estate realized that the racial provision in the will created a problem, leading to the ruling Nov. 9 by Circuit Judge H.H. Kaplan.

The judge said Keswick isn’t entitled to Coggins’ money, not because it should have heeded his whites-only request, but because the will was unenforceable--it would have required the nursing home to break discrimination law.

“The loss of these funds to Keswick . . . because Keswick cannot comply with Dr. Coggins’ condition is part of the price we pay” for letting people attach such conditions to their wills, Kaplan wrote.

Alice Brumbaugh, a law professor at the University of Maryland, expressed surprise at the ruling, saying it goes against the practice of many courts.

“A lot of courts have said when you have an illegal condition in the will, we just take the condition out and treat it as if it didn’t exist,” she said.

But Coggins’ will gave the judge another option. Kaplan also cited the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 1911 will of Sen. Augustus Bacon, which established a whites-only park in Georgia. The court ruled in 1970 that the park should revert to Bacon’s heirs, rejecting arguments that the will be rewritten to keep the property in the city’s hands.

Coggins’ will was not all that unusual for 1962, five years before Keswick was forced by law to open its doors to all races.

“What was unusual was the trust lasted for so long,” said David S. Bogen, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. “It’s essentially time out of joint, making it unusual and, of course, striking.”

No one knows what prompted Coggins to change his will on Dec. 29, 1962, just 34 days after he signed a will with no racial restrictions.

At the time, the civil rights movement was bringing profound changes to Maryland and the rest of country. Riots erupted when James Meredith tried to enter the University of Mississippi. In Maryland, the state announced on Nov. 24, 1962, that segregation would end at four state hospitals, including one where Coggins had worked.

Coggins had his own hospital, the Laurel Sanitarium, but frequently sent patients to the Home for the Incurables of Baltimore City, now called the Keswick Multi-Care Center.

His wife, Helen, a nurse, also worked at Keswick. Mrs. Coggins died in 1998 after living 20 years at Keswick and serving on its board. The couple had no children.

“She never seemed prejudicial to me,” said Keswick resident Betty Carson, 66. “She was just a down-to-earth person. She liked her drink. She loved to eat. And she loved good conversation.”

Keswick officials said they have no plans to change the name of the Coggins building and that the center’s future does not depend on a favorable appellate ruling.