AANHPI Heritage Month:: The 8-year old Chinese American girl whose 1885 case led to the desegregation of U.S. schools

SMITH COLLECTION

The Tape family, including Mamie, second from left, circa 1884.

In September of 1884, 8-year-old Mamie Tape was ready to begin her studies at Spring Valley Primary School in San Francisco, but the principal refused to admit her because of her Chinese heritage. 

Little did the principle know the series of events that she started would lead to eventual desegregation of public schools. What is even more amazing is this drama was occurring when anti-Chinese sentiment was high. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882.

Mamie’s parents, who were affluent, fully assimilated middle-class immigrants, and well connected, decided to fight back in a suit against the Spring Valley School principal Jennie Hurley,  known as Tape v. Hurley.

The Tapes were well educated and not without political connections. They were part of household of Leland Stanford, one of the Big Four so-called  railroad "robber barons." The Stanfords, paid for the Tape's wedding, according to the obituary of Joseph Tape. By the time the Tapes filed their suit, Stanford, who was a U.S. Senator then, had endowed the university named after his son who died at age 15.

According to a  History article, the Tape case was one of the most significant civil rights decisions of all time. Even American-born Chinese students were denied access to public schools in San Francisco despite a California law that entitled all children a right to public education.

Because Mamie’s parents had lived in predominantly white communities for so long, it seemed only natural to send their child to nearest primary school. Tape v. Hurley had made it to the Supreme Court in March 1885. Yet, the court ruled against Mamie’s parents, stating that the “separate but equal” doctrine justified the segregation taking place.

In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was not unconstitutional as long as the facilities were equivalent in nature. Since the court did not find any significant differences between schools, it did not find merit in the discriminatory claim.

Furious with the injustice, Mamie’s mother, Mary, wrote a letter to the Alta California newspaper. Highlighted in a San Francisco Chronicle article, Mary Tape’s letter furiously asks, “Is it a disgrace to be born a Chinese?”

READ the entire letter written by Mary Tape.

Tape’s letter did not help Mary’s daughter. Nonetheless, the outcome was still a triumph for the Chinese American community because of the public outcry at the injustice of the decision. 

Five days after her letter was published, the school district opened the Chinese Primary School in Chinatown. Later, more Chinese enrolled at other public schools and fewer complaints came from white parents.

The separate but equal doctrine would finally be repealed in 1947, seven years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was unconstitutional.

Mamie and her siblings were among the first students to enroll in the Chinese Primary School in San Francisco's Chinatown. 

Ten years later, the Tapes moved across the Bay to Berkeley, where schools were integrated and, unlike San Francisco's racist real estate practices, Chinese were allowed to buy homes.

In the East Bay, the Tape family continued to make history. The Tape's immigrant story is a quintessential story of America. Mary gained a reputation as an outstanding photographer  and painter and Joseph, who worked for Southern Pacific Railroad, continued to engage in civic affairs and was one of the founders of the Knox Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, across the street where the Tapes lived.

Read more about the Tapes of Russell Steet here.

AsAm News contributed to this article. 

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