Stariha v. Hagood
| Decision Date | 14 April 1949 |
| Docket Number | 6 Div. 787. |
| Citation | 40 So.2d 85,252 Ala. 158 |
| Parties | STARIHA v. HAGOOD et al. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
L C. Albright, of Birmingham, for appellant.
J. L. Busby and Earl McBee, both of Birmingham, for appellees.
The will involved is in part as follows:
'(13) The remainder of my estate, all real estate, bonds, moneys, mortgages, I will and bequeath to the Southern Workers School Foundation, an unincorporated Foundation of which I am a member, and in which I have perfect confidence.
'(14) While it is my desire that my estate be used as stated above, I am leaving for my Trustees a list of personal mementoes which I wish given to the names listed.
'(15) I name as Trustee of this Will, Milicent Armagast, Fred Denman and George W. Reeve, each to serve without bond and without accounting to any Court.'
The 'Constitution of the Southern Workers School Foundation' is as follows:
'Preamble: We, the undersigned, understanding the need of special education for workers in Alabama, do hereby organize as an unincorporated body to be known as the Southern Workers School Foundation.
'(1) Purpose: Our purpose is to provide a school in Birmingham, Alabama, where workers may acquire a fuller knowledge and clearer understanding of their position in the industrial World, its economic and political bearing on their lives.
'(2) It is our intention to gather funds in the form of donations, these funds to be conserved until such time as the Trustees think best to open the school.
'(3) The school shall not be a school of Industrial Arts, nor shall it become the tool of any Political Party or Economic Group. No Religion shall be taught nor shall any Religious Discussion be allowed.
'(4) If such a school project cannot be established then whatever funds we may have accumulated shall be used in either of the two following ways:
'Method for Distributing Funds
'First: Funds shall be used as scholarships for Workers who have the capacity and the desire to attend Workers School in other States.
'Second: All funds shall be turned over to the Socialist Party of the United States to be used for Educational Purposes in the State of Alabama.
'(5) The signers of this program shall constitute the Trustees of this Foundation. They shall serve without bond and shall be accountable only to each other. If by any chance the Trustees die before naming their successors, then the funds of this Foundation shall be turned over to the Socialist Party of the United States to be used by it for Educational purposes in the State of Alabama.
'(6) If any Trustee dies or resigns the remaining Trustees shall select a successor.
'The Trustees shall elect a President, Secretary and Treasurer from their number. The duties of such officers to be those usually applied to such officers.
'(7) Two members of the Board of Trustees may transact any business other than financial. All three Trustees must be present at all meetings where financial matters are transacted.
'(8) At the opening of the School a Board of Directors shall be selected by the Trustees. Five or seven in number as the Trustees deem proper. They shall be persons who have an understanding and sympathy with our purpose. A Constitution and By-Laws shall be drawn up by the Board of Directors and the Trustees.
'(9) All financial matters pertaining to the School Foundation shall be controlled entirely by the Trustees.
'Signed, Feb. 4th, 1936.'
The final decree is in substance as follows:
1. The Court is of the opinion, and therefore decrees, that the trust provisions of the Southern Workers' Foundation are adopted by the will of Mrs. Emma F. Connolly and that the adoption of the resolution or purported amendment by the trustees or any other act of the said trustees seeking to eliminate the Socialist Party after the death of the testator is ineffective, void and of no force and effect.
2. The Court is further of the opinion and decrees that it is impracticable for the trustees to establish a workers school in accordance with the terms of the said will. The Court is likewise of the opinion, and so decrees, that the trustees are not authorized, under the terms of said will, to engage in a joint enterprise with the University of Alabama, or any other person, corporation or agency, to establish such a workers school in the State of Alabama.
3. The Court is of the opinion, and so decrees, that the trust created by said will has not failed, but that the trustees, in their sound discretion, may use the funds either of the following ways:
First, establish scholarships upon such conditions and limitations hereinafter set forth;
Second, pay the funds in their hands over to the Socialist Party, to be used by said party subject to the conditions and limitations hereinafter set forth.
4. If the said trustees determine in their sound discretion to use the funds of the trust to establish scholarships, the same shall be subject to the following conditions and limitations:
A. The Court is of the opinion, and so decrees, that no school presently existing in the State of Alabama qualifies under the terms of said will. The Court will entertain an application by the Trustees to permit scholarships to any workers school which may hereafter be established in the State of Alabama, which will meet the requirements of said will.
B. The Court is of the opinion, and so decrees, that scholarships may be awarded to any one or more of the following schools:
1st. The Kentucky Federation of Labor School for Workers.
2nd. The Cornell University School for Workers.
3rd. The School for Workers conducted by the University of Wisconsin.
4th. The Monteagle School at Monteagle, Tennessee.
C. The Court is of the opinion, and so decrees, that scholarships to short-term or summer schools conducted by any one or more of the above mentioned schools fall within the provisions of said will.
D. The Court is of the opinion, and so decrees, that such scholarships may include either or all of the following: Tuition, room and board, books, and transportation to and from such school or schools and that the trustees may in their discretion use either principal or income for this purpose. Such scholarships may be awarded by the said trustees to the workers, or members of the families of workers upon any basis, and upon any plan which may to them seem reasonable and proper. They may make outright grants, or loans, or a combination of both, in their sound discretion.
5. In the event the trustees, in their sound discretion, shall turn the money over to the Socialist Party, it shall be used by such party for the education work in the State of Alabama of the kind, and subject to the limitations contained in said will.
6. The respondent and cross-complainant, Mrs. Lora Stariha, has no interest in or claim to any of the funds in the hands of the said trustees, and the said Mrs. Lora Stariha is not entitled to relief upon her cross-bill, which is hereby dismissed.
7. The costs of this proceeding are hereby taxed against the complainants, to be paid out of the funds in their hands as such trustees.
Emma F Connolly, widow of a deceased member of a labor union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, died in March, 1942, leaving a last will and testament devising and bequeathing an estate of approximately $14,000 to a voluntary unincorporated association designated as 'Southern Workers School Foundation.' She was one of the founders and a continuing member of this association, which was organized in 1936, and which, according to its constitution had as its primary purpose the accumulation of funds 'to provide a school in Birmingham, Alabama, where workers may acquire a fuller knowledge and clearer understanding of their position in the industrial World, its economic and political bearing on their lives.' The constitution further provided that if the school project could not be established, then The signers of the constitution were to be the trustees of the Foundation and also provision was...
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