The Tapes of Russell Street

The Tape house (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004)

One of the houses on our upcoming Spring House Tour conceals a most absorbing history.

The original owners were Joseph and Mary Tape, a Chinese-American couple who made school desegregation history in 1885. Mary Tape was also an accomplished amateur photographer, painter, and telegrapher—highly unsual for a married Victorian lady.

Their story is told in the essay The Tapes of Russell Street.