Joseph Tape was born Jeu Dip in China, and immigrated to San Francisco, California as a child. He married another Chinese immigrant, Mary, who had been raised in a San Francisco home for destitute girls and had been educated in English. Both wished to assimilate as much as possible to American customs, so when they married, they chose the surname Tape. Joseph became a respected businessman who owned his own delivery service and worked with both white and Chinese business communities in that capacity and as a translator. In the 1870s, the Tapes bought a home in Cow Hollow, a mostly white neighborhood, where they raised their children Mamie, Frank, and Emily. When Mamie became old enough to attend primary school, the Tapes wanted her to attend their neighborhood’s school rather than travel daily to a mission-run school in Chinatown. In 1884, Principal Jennie Hurley denied Mamie admission to the Spring Valley Primary School. The Tapes sued the San Francisco Board of Education and Principal Hurley. On January 9, 1885, the Superior Court ruled in favor of the Tapes, as denying Mamie would violate state law and the U.S. Constitution which allowed that public schools were open to all children. The School Board appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of California. The question before the court was whether a child of Chinese descent, who was born in the U.S., was entitled to admission to a public school. The Court ruled in the Tapes' favor. The California Political Code stated that every school had to be open to all children in the district except those with "filthy or vicious habits," or children suffering from diseases. There was no law forbidding the admission of children of any race or nationality. In this opinion, the judge explained that the law could be changed legislatively.  The same year, a new law was passed, providing separate schools for children of “Mongolian or Chinese” descent. This meant that legally, Principal Hurley could now deny Mamie’s admission because there was a separate public school for Chinese students which she could attend. Mary wrote a letter to the Board of Education, saying that Mamie would never attend a Chinese school. Unfortunately, Mamie and her brother Frank would be the first pupils to attend the Chinese Primary School when it opened on April 13, 1885. The Tapes later moved to another city where their youngest children attended non-segregated schools. The law allowing separate schools would not be abolished until 1947 with Mendez v. Westminster. [416 words]