The museum was built instead of what would have been the Ackland Art Museum at Rollins; millionaire and amateur art collector William Hayes Ackland (1855-1940) wanted to leave his fortune to a Southern university for an art museum and narrowed his choices to Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Rollins, in that order.[19][20] After Ackland's death, Duke refused the request, and UNC and Rollins, excised from Ackland's final will, both brought suit to locate Ackland's museum on their campuses.[19] In a case that went to the United States Supreme Court, Ackland's trustees sided with UNC, but a lower court ruled for Rollins; a higher court finally granted the bequest to UNC.