By Eric Curl
April 7, 2022 update – After more than two decades of languishing in Probate Court purgatory, the deteriorating Kiah house has been approved for sale as part of a plan to restore the structure that once served as a community museum for “the masses.”
“The bases for the court finding good cause for the sales include: the proposed sales price is roughly 22% higher than the Chatham County Tax Assessor’s fair market value; the house on the real property is in need of significant repair, having been boarded up and vacant for over 20 years; the property is on the City of Savannah’s “Blight List”‘ the roof is collapsing with many portions of the structure being rotten; it is likely the cost of renovation exceed the fair market value of the property; and the property is and has been and if held will continue to be a burden on the Estate, not bringing in income while at the same time cost the Estate funds and falling farther into disrepair continually,” the order states. “In addition to the any tangible and financial reasons why good cause has been shown for the Temporary Administrator’s proposed transaction, good cause is shown in that the proposed purchaser, the Historic Savannah Foundation, intends to make efforts to preserve the legacy of the decedent, Virginia Kiah, a noted artist and collector of art, particularly African-American works.”
Feb. 22, 2022 update – Another heir has agreed to the motion to sell the Kiah house, according to a court document filed on Feb. 22, 2022.
The filing comes after the case’s temporary administrator filed a motion on April 14 to sell the deteriorating property, reporting that he has signed a sales contract with Historic Savannah Foundation for the price of $60,000.
“The temporary administrator believes this price is fair and that this buyer will respect the lineage and character of the property. Several of the heirs of Ms. Kiah have mentioned their desire to preserve her former home in recognition of her contributions to the community. Further, it is noted the sales price is in excess of the Assessor’s fair market value of $48,0000,” the motion states.
On July 2, the guardian ad litem, appointed to represent any unknown heirs, filed a report supporting the sale, subject to publication of the pending sale to notify any unknown heirs.
The recommendation comes after the Savannah City Council unanimously voted on July 22 to designate the Kiah house a historic structure, along with 89 other Cuyler-Brownville properties.
In September, the case’s temporary administrator, Savannah Attorney Keith Berry, Jr., said he learned from the court clerk that there were two more heirs to be served before the sale could be advertised.
“I just have to find the time to sit down and make that happen,” Berry said.
As of Oct. 13, Berry said the two remaining heirs had still not been notified.
“My good intentions haven’t been enough,” he said. “Soon though.”
Berry did not respond to a request for an update sent on Nov. 18.
On Nov. 4, the Historic Site and Monument Commission approved the African Diaspora Museology Institute’s request to install a historical marker on the public tree lawn outside the home that would recognize the significance of the Kiah House Museum, as reported by the Savannah Morning News. The marker was approved by the Savannah City Council on Dec. 9.
Feb. 19, 2021 (original story) – 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.”
Built in 1915, the house at 505 W. 36th St. in historic Cuyler-Brownville was transformed into a community museum in the late 1950s by Kiah and her husband, Calvin Kiah, a former Dean of Education at Savannah State College. Kiah said she established the museum to “reach the masses”, a dream she had since she was a little girl growing up in Maryland.
“Because in Baltimore, black people were not encouraged to enter a museum at all,” she said.
Kiah brought that dream to life by opening her Savannah home to the community and converting her mother’s home in Baltimore into the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum. Named for Kiah’s mother, who led the NAACP’s Baltimore branch for more than three decades, the Baltimore museum remains open today, unlike her Savannah home, following a restoration by Morgan State University in 2012.
In addition to serving as a community museum, Kiah’s Savannah home was a meeting place for residents and a safe haven for Civil Rights activists, political figures, artists and athletes at a time when participants in the movement were targeted and Blacks had limited lodging options, Kiah’s nephew, Michael Bowen Mitchell, said in January. Notable visitors included Julian Bond, Rosa Parks, Daisy Bates, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Langston Hughes and Jesse Owens, Mitchell said.
“The museum was her way to continue to fight for freedom,” he said.
The Historic Savannah Foundation is determined to help preserve the structure and help tell Kiah’s story, CEO and President Susan Adler said in January. With that goal in mind, HSF entered a contract last year with the case’s temporary administrator to purchase and preserve the property, but the sale cannot go through until the court case is resolved, Adler said.
“It’s got to get through the process,” she said.
Mitchell said the family supports HSF’s plan to purchase and rehabilitate the property, which they cannot afford to do themselves, as long as it is once again put to use as a museum.
“We all question why it is taking so long to consummate the sale when you have a party interested in preserving Black history,” Mitchell said.
The timeline below is based on court documents available online and starts in late 2017 after advocates and media coverage spurred Judge Tom Bordeaux, who had been elected the year before, to re-activate the case that had been mostly stagnant for about 15 years. (In December, the court denied me access to the records that were filed in the early years of the case.)
In addition to Bordeaux, the parties cited here include Savannah-based Attorney Lester Johnson, III, who was appointed guardian of Kiah and her property in 1999, and Jesup-based Attorney Kimberly Copeland, who had represented Kiah’s heirs since at least 2002. Savannah Attorney Keith Berry, Jr. was appointed by Bordeaux as temporary administrator of the estate in 2018. Attempts to arrange interviews with all three attorneys were unsuccessful. Mitchell said Copeland is no longer representing the family and Johnson’s office assistant said he was no longer involved in the case, following Berry’s appointment.
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Kiah Estate Case Timeline and court records
Dec. 28, 2017 – Bordeaux issues Order setting status conference and requiring attendance of counsel. “The above-referenced case, which includes both the guardianship matter and the issues of probate of the Decedent’s estate, has long been pending before this Court without action or request for action by any party.”
Feb. 8, 2018 – Bordeaux issues order for mediation. “The Court cautions that it will not permit any further unnecessary delays in resolving the matters before it.”
April 11, 2018 – Berry files petition for temporary letters of administration. “Petitioner is not fully knowledgeable regarding the decedent’s affairs. It is believed that in the 17 years since her date of death, a contested administration proceeding was filed but not completed. Allegedly, the decedent had a will that was never filed. The decedent’s estate is not represented and the assets of the estate need to be ascertained, safeguarded and administered.”
April 16, 2018 – Bordeaux issues order appointing Berry as temporary administrator. “The Court finds that the estate is currently unrepresented. The Court further finds that no objection has been filed, all requirements of law have been fulfilled, that this appointment is in the best interests of the estate, and that it is necessary that temporary letters should issue for the sole purpose of collecting and preserving the assets of the Decedent until a personal representatives is appointed.”
April 16, 2018 – Berry issues motion for order directing Johnson to transfer to him what is believed to be more than $200,000 in estate funds from his service as guardian of the property and conservator of Kiah prior to her death.
April 16, 2018 – Judge Bordeaux issues order directing payment of funds to Berry “without delay.”
April 30, 2018 – Berry issues first request for production of documents, requiring a response within 30 days.
May 18, 2018 – Berry files motion for order allowing the temporary administrator to pay regular recurring expenses, noting he received $260,890.65 from Johnson and from those funds paid a $180 filing fee and $985 bond premium. “It is the purpose of this motion to obtain an order allowing payment of regular recurring expenses of the estate, such as, by way of example and not limitation, probate court filing fees, yard maintenance, real property taxes, and building repair estimates without separate motion and order for each expenditure.”
June 2, 2018 – Bordeaux issues order allowing for payment of regularly occurring expenses.
June 13, 2018 – Berry files first income expenditure report, showing $259,731.63 remained of $260,890.65 in estate funds initially received from Johnson on April 30 after paying court filing fee and a bond premium.
July 25, 2018 – Berry submits motion to list and sell the Kiah house, claiming the property, with a 2018 Fair Market Value of $42,500 is a burden to the estate. “Real property taxes are due and owing for 2017 and 2018. The Property is on the ‘Blight’ list of the City of Savannah. The property is boarded up and has been vacant since 2001, the year of the decedent’s death. The Temporary Administrator believes it has been vacant longer than that given the adjudication of Ms. Kiah’s incompetency in 1999. The roof is collapsing and water damage is evident. The eaves and soffits are rotten. The structure at the rear of the property is falling down.”
July 30, 2018 – Berry files motion to compel discovery. “The information requested is relevant and important to the ability of the Temporary Administrator to fulfill his duty. Mr. Johnson did not timely provide the responses initially and only requested an extension for time to respond (which was granted) after the Temporary Administrator wrote a letter requesting responses. After which a second extension request was made by Mr. Johnson and was granted by the Temporary Administrator. The third deadline of July 24, 2018 has passed without the information being provided.”
Aug. 2 – 2018 – Berry files notice of abandonment, stating that he has determined the personal property of the deceased (paintings, furniture, art work, furnishings, collections, chinaware, silverware, books, pictures, clothing, jewelry, antiques) is not part of her estate and was transferred in 1995 pursuant to the terms of the Virginia Jackson Kiah Revocable Living Trust Agreement.
Aug. 29, 2018 – Johnson files response to temporary administrator’s motion to compel discovery, attributing the delay to the large amount of case files he need to compile and on the absence of his secretary. Johnson stated he hand delivered 1,589 copies of discovery responses on July 30, 2018 and has acted in good faith.
Aug. 30, 2018 – Heirs submit response opposing Berry’s motion to list and sell the property. “The heirs desire to keep the property and consider renovating it since the property is in the Cuyler-Brownsville Historic District on the National Historical Register.”
Sept. 17, 2018 – Berry files motion to withdraw motion to compel discovery from Johnson.
If you find value in this website, please consider contributing via Paypal below to help cover the costs. You can also send contributions via Venmo @Eric-Curl and via CashApp at $ECrl77. Your support, no matter how much you give, is appreciated and will help ensure the future viability of this community resource.
Dec. 12, 2018 – Bordeaux approves administrator’s petition to sell property in a court order. “The Represented Heirs appear oblivious to the fact that the decedent died in 2001, seventeen years ago later this month, and that the property has fallen into waste and deterioration without any substantial action being taken before now to protect it.”
Dec. 27, 2018 – Berry files fourth-quarter income expenditure report showing expenses included $79 in court filing fees, $536 in Chatham County property taxes and $2,924 in delinquent and current city property taxes. There was $255,746.84 remaining.
March 22, 2019 – Berry files petition for payment by the estate of $6,732 in interim compensation. “In support of this request for payment of interim compensation, Petitioner shows that numerous additional pleadings (some involving research) have been filed during the preceding year to which only minimal opposition has been raised. Petitioner has initiated and responded to telephone calls and email messages from the attorneys in the proceedings as well as outside attorneys for real estate expertise.”
April 13, 2020 – Berry files six-month income expenditure report showing there was $248,266 remaining in the estate as of Nov. 30, 2019. The expenses included $300 for yard work, $347.93 for Chatham County property taxes, $959.34 for city property taxes and $100 to remove a mural.
March 30, 2021 – Berry files an income expenditure report showing there was $243,969 remaining in the estate as of Feb. 29, 2021, following expenses that included property taxes, appraisal fees, insurance and yard work.
April 14, 2021 – Berry files a motion to sell the Kiah house, reporting that he has signed a sales contract with Historic Savannah Foundation for the price of $60,000. “The temporary administrator believes this price is fair and that this buyer will respect the lineage and character of the property. Several of the heirs of Ms. Kiah have mentioned their desire to preserve her former home in recognition of her contributions to the community. Further, it is noted the sales price is in excess of the Assessor’s fair market value of $48,0000.”
April 26, 2021 – Clerk of Probate Court files certificate of of service that letters have been sent to Kiah’s heirs notifying them of Berry’s motion to sell the property and that they have 30 days to file an objection. If any objections are filed, a hearing will be held at a later date. If there are no objections, the petition to sell the property may be granted without a hearing.
May 19, 2021 – Savannah Attorney Joseph B. Ervin appointed guardian ad litem for any of Kiah’s unknown heirs until a final order is issued on petition to sell the estate.
July 2, 2021 – Ervin files report that recommends the sale of the property, subject to the temporary administrator seeking an order to publicize the pending sale to notify any unknown heirs.
Sept.10, 2021 – Berry said in an email that the court clerk determined there were two more heirs to be served before the sale could be advertised. “I just have to find the time to sit down and make that happen,” Berry said.
Oct. 13, 2021 – Berry, said in an email that he has unfortunately not yet served the two additional heirs in order to move forward with the sale of the property. “My good intentions haven’t been enough,” he said. “Soon though.”
Nov. 22, 2021 – Attorney Payment Processed (payment to Ervin for serving as guardian ad litem.)
Feb. 22, 2022 – Acknowledgement of service filed in which another heir acknowledges receiving notification of the motion to sell the Kiah house and agrees to the motion.
April 7, 2022 – Judge Bordeaux issues order approving the sale of the property as part of a plan to restore the structure that once served as a community museum for “the masses.”
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