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‘Unnecessary delays’: An artist, her Savannah estate and a two-decade-old court case
Feb. 19, 2021 – More than 21 years have passed since the estate of the late artist, educator, and Civil Rights activist Virginia Jackson Kiah wound up in Chatham County Probate Court. Initiated by a guardianship petition in 1999, two years before Kiah’s death at age 90, the seemingly never ending legal dispute drags on as her estate funds dwindle and her Savannah home deteriorates.
Due to its dilapidated condition, Kiah’s 106-year-old home is now one of 10 properties on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2021 list of ‘Places in Peril.’ In addition to the house, court records show there was $260,890 belonging to the estate as of April 2018. That amount dropped to $248,266 by Nov. 30, 2019 due to costs such as court fees, maintenance work and tax payments, according to the court-appointed administrator’s most recent income expense report.
Meanwhile, local organizations are attempting to do what they can to save the property. The Historic Savannah Foundation entered a contract to purchase and rehabilitate the property, but the sale cannot be completed until the case is closed. And longtime Kiah-house advocate Deborah Johnson-Simon recently launched a Gofundme campaign to help her nonprofit, African Diaspora Museology Institute, raise funds to go towards securing and preserving the property, possibly by hiring an attorney to help in the effort to resolve the case.
At a minimum, some security fences need to go up to protect the property, Johnson-Simon said.
“I was frightened to death when I saw a lighter and somebody’s homeless sign out there the other day,” she said. “It’s a tragedy just waiting to happen.”
Property matters
Historic Savannah Foundation attempting to buy, preserve Kiah house
Where is Virginia Jackson Kiah’s art? This Savannah-based university won’t say.
Upcoming meetings
Chatham Area Transit meeting Feb. 23
Historic Preservation Commission meeting Feb. 24
Chatham County Board of Registrars meeting Feb. 24
Savannah City Council meeting Feb. 25
Saavannah Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Feb. 25
Chatham County Commission meeting Feb. 26
