CLARA BROWN (1880–1885)
Known as the “Angel of the Rockies,” Clara Brown would overcome many challenges to become an entrepreneur and community leader in the West. Clara’s life started like the lives of many Black children born in Virginia during the early 1800s. Born into slavery, she was forced to move homes and states often. When she was older, she was sold to the Brown family and separated from her husband and children. Clara eventually gained her freedom at age 56.
In 1857, Clara began looking for her family and headed west. During her travels, she started to make a name for herself. She became one of the first Black women to settle in Colorado during the gold rush and the first person to start a business doing laundry in that area. Her business and smart investing made Clara wealthy. She was generous with her time and hard-earned money, funding churches and charities. Clara helped fellow Black Americans start new lives in the West. She also delivered babies and nursed sick gold miners back to health.
Clara never stopped searching for her family, leading to a joyful reunion with one of her lost daughters in the last years of her life.
MARY TAPE (1857–1934)
“Mary Tape” was born in China. In 1868, she boarded a ship bound for the United States. She was 11 years old and traveled without family. After her arrival, the Ladies’ Protection and Relief Society of San Francisco took her in and taught her English. To fit in, she changed her name to “Mary” (her birth name is unknown). She later married another Chinese immigrant who called himself “Joseph Tape.”
During this time, the United States had passed several laws that discriminated against Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans. The Tapes worked hard to become American because they believed it would help them succeed in their new home. They moved away from Chinatown, raised their children to speak English, and sought to enroll their oldest girl, Mamie, in an all-white school. But because Mamie looked Chinese, the school board wouldn’t let her in. Mary argued this was unfair and fought back. The Tapes sued the school and won the case, but California politicians changed the laws to keep Mamie out.
Mary continued to fight by writing a letter to the Board of Education. Although unable to end discrimination in schools, Mary’s efforts prompted a series of famous legal cases. Seventy years later, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional.