Lee Yick
Yick Wo was a laundry owned by Chinese immigrant Lee Yick in San Francisco, California. In 1880 San Francisco passed legislation that all laundries in wooden buildings had to get approval by the Board of Supervisors to obtain a license. Every Chinese laundry owner who applied was denied a permit while white-owned laundries were granted a permit. Lee Yick was arrested for refusing to pay a fine and booked under the name of his laundromat; police never bothered to correct the file. After making its way to the Supreme Court, Yick Wo resulted in one of the first opinions to establish equal protection for all people despite their legal status -- a strengthening of Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Justice Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews (July 21, 1824 – March 22, 1989) was a lawyer, senator and Supreme Court Justice (1881-1888). During his short occupancy in the Supreme Court, Justice Matthews advocated equal protection rights for all racial minorities, and had a lasting influence on American law.
Peter Hopkins
Peter Hopkins was the Sheriff of the San Francisco police department (1885-1886) and the defendant in Yick Wo v. Hopkins. According to the Guardians of the City, Hopkins fought in the Mexican War of 1846 and served as Fire Commissioner for the City. He was responsible for arresting Lee Wo and over 150 other Chinese persons for not meeting the board of approval’s laundry regulations.