Charlotte Ah Tye Chang

Charlotte Chang (née Ah Tye; July 21, 1873 – January 15, 1972) was an American social worker and community activist in the San Francisco area.

As a California-born Chinese-American woman, her citizenship status became complicated after she married a Chinese-born lawyer, Hong Yen Chang, in 1897.

In 1906, Charlotte Chang and her two children survived the great San Francisco earthquake, staying with friends and helping with church relief efforts in Oakland.

[6][7] In 1910, planning to travel from San Francisco to Vancouver, Charlotte Ah Tye Chang and her children applied for return certificates but were refused; although they were all born in California, they could not claim United States citizenship.

[12] In 1968 and 1969, while in her nineties,[1] Chang led protests against plans to demolish the old Kong Chow Temple,[13][14] established on the land her father donated in 1854[15] for the purpose.

An Asian-American mother and her two children in a formal portrait; the daughter and son are about 11 and 9 years old, respectively; the daughter has long dark hair, the son has dark hair cut short with bangs; the mother's dark hair is in an updo, and she is wearing a high lace collar.
Charlotte Ah Tye Chang and her children, Ora and Oliver, from a 1909 publication.