This book traces the history of the Chinese experience in America, particularly in the San Francisco area, from the California Gold Rush era of the 1850s to the construction of a new all-Chinese school in San Francisco's Chinatown district in the 1950s. The first five chapters of the book detail the withholding of school privileges from both immigrant and native-born Chinese by city and California State school officials from the 1850s through the early 1920s. Chapter 6 describes the transitional years from 1922-40 when segregationist tactics began to break down, and chapter 7 describes the improved status of the Chinese resulting from their struggle against the Japanese during World War II, and their significant economic and social progress during the next two decades. A concluding chapter summarizes the impact of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the 1974 Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision on educational gains by Chinese Americans through the early 1980s. Historical documentation as well as letters and a teacher questionnaire used by the author in his research are appended to the book. (CJM)