Louise Kerr, a Black woman, claimed she was refused admission to a library training class conducted by the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore City. Kerr claimed she was rejected because of a policy designed to exclude Black people. She took this case to the District Court and asked that her application be considered without racial discrimination. The library’s Board of Trustees claimed Kerr was not refused because of her race. They also argued that the library was a private entity that did not perform any public function as a representative of the state. The District Judge agreed with the Board. Kerr appealed. The appellate court found that the library, from the very beginning, was completely owned and supported by the state. If the state legislature maintained a public library, and the board excluded Black people from its benefits, this was unconstitutional. The lower court’s judgment was reversed, and Kerr won the case.