Mamie Takes a Stand: The True Story of Mamie Tape, a Chinese American Girl's Fight for School Rights
(GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Aug. 2025
Synopsis:
In the fall of 1884 in San Francisco, California, Mamie excitedly arrived for her first day at an American public school, only to find the principal blocking her way. Why? Because Mamie was Chinese.
Thus began the Tape family's yearlong struggle to secure Mamie's right to attend public school. In the spring of 1885, Mamie's case reached the California Supreme Court, who reaffirmed a lower court’s ruling that public schools should be open to children of all races.
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the focus should be on the read-aloud and the
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