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Editor's Note: Mary Tape was a Chinese immigrant in San Francisco who fought to have her children admitted to public school. In response, the San Francisco school board established a separate school for Chinese children, prompting Mrs. Tape to draft the letter below. Despite her statements in the letter, Mrs. Tape did enroll her children in the Chinese school. Over time, as enrollment increased and students advanced to the secondary school level, the San Francisco school board allowed Chinese children to attend integrated high schools. Although this did not occur until the 1920s, too late for Mrs. Tape's children, school desegregation in San Francisco occurred significantly earlier than the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling against desegregation. On the following pages, we have reproduced some primary documents pertaining to Mary Tape. A Letter from Mrs. Tape
1769 Greet Sreet,
San Francisco, April 8, 1885
To the Board of Education-DEAR SIRS: I see that you are going to make all sorts of excuses to keep my child out off the Public schools....