Alice Piper (7 June 1908 – 22 August 1985) was a Paiute (Nüümü) woman, who as a girl residing in Big Pine, California petitioned to attend the newly built Big Pine High School in 1923 and was denied entry due to her race.

Piper sued on the grounds that her 14th Amendment rights had been violated knowing full well that she was not receiving the same education that the newly built public school afforded.

The local Indian day school only offered education up to the 5th grade level, was underfunded, and lacked many basic resources.

[3] As a local resident recalled, "It was an exciting morning when the request was made, all the mothers and fathers of children of school age, Indian and white, were on the street to hear the answer of the district trustees.

Piper v. Big Pine was later cited by Chief Justice Warren as a precedent in the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruling that ended the practice of segregated schools in the United States.