Berea College v. Kentucky

Berea College v. Kentucky
Argued April 10, 13, 1908
Decided November 9, 1908
Full case nameBerea College, Plaintiff in Error, v. Commonwealth of Kentucky
Citations211 U.S. 45 (more)
29 S. Ct. 33; 53 L. Ed. 81
Case history
PriorAffirmed, 123 Ky. 209, 94 S.W. 623. Reviewed by the Supreme Court on writ of error.
Holding
States can legally prohibit private educational institutions chartered as corporations from admitting both black and white students.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
John M. Harlan · David J. Brewer
Edward D. White · Rufus W. Peckham
Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr.
William R. Day · William H. Moody
Case opinions
MajorityBrewer, joined by Fuller, White, Peckham, McKenna
ConcurrenceHolmes (in the judgment of the court only)
ConcurrenceMoody (in the judgment of the court only)
DissentHarlan
DissentDay
Overruled by
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Berea College v. Kentucky, 211 U.S. 45 (1908), was a significant case argued before the United States Supreme Court that upheld the rights of states to prohibit private educational institutions chartered as corporations from admitting both black and white students.[1] Like the related Plessy v. Ferguson case,[2] it was also marked by a strongly worded dissent by John Marshall Harlan. The ruling also is a minor landmark on the nature of corporate personhood.

  1. ^ Berea College v. Kentucky, 211 U.S. 45 (1908).
  2. ^ Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).