Organizations and Websites
“The Bridges That Carried Us Over”
https://www.csusb.edu/special-collections/projects/bridges-carried-us-over-project
A current and ongoing project between UCR, CA State University, and Redlands University, plus other organizations to document the history of African Americans in the Inland Empire. This project currently includes oral interviews but is increasing its collection to include photos, artifacts, and more oral interviews.
Inlandia Institute
https://riversidewomencreatingchange.org
Inlandia Institute is collecting stories about women who were/are activists in Riverside. You can see the website and learn more about that project by visiting
Inlandia's website has an interactive timeline and a free PDF of the Inlandia publication, “No Easy Way: Integrating Riverside Schools - A Victory for Community.”
https://inlandiainstitute.org/guides/no-easy-way-civil-rights- timeline/
Note: Riverside Unified School District was the first large school district in the country to integrate without a court order. The district stepped up its efforts after a local elementary school was firebombed. The book itself is authored by Art Littleworth, who was school board president at the time. The book includes interviews with community members, teachers, and former students who were impacted at the time, including those attending the Freedom School.
Riverside African American Historical Society
Includes information on Black History Month and icons in Riverside working on racial justice
Evergreen Memorial Cemetery
http://evergreen-cemetery.info
https://www.pe.com/2012/05/19/riverside-project-honors-african-americans-buried-at-cemetery/
This cemetery has a significant portion of it dedicated to prominent African Americans who lived and died here.
Dell Roberts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF95Y64UDvc
A documentary and interview with Dell Roberts, a well-known youth advocate, community leader, and educator. This is a part of a series called “A Good Life” done by Riverside TV In 2019. For more information, go to RiversideCA.gov and click on Watch Riverside TV and then search “A Good Life,” which brings up the whole series. It also includes Art Littleworth and other community leaders
Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern CA
https://www.inlandcivilrights.org/
Expected to open in 2022 in downtown Riverside
Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties
https://socialjustice.rccd.edu/about/Pages/index.aspx
https://www.inlandcivilrights.org
The Center includes a permanent exhibit called Riverside Stories that tells the stories of 7 leaders of social justice and civil liberties in Riverside.
NAACP- Riverside Chapter
Nationally NAACP was founded in 1909 and thus has a long history of fighting for racial justice.
Magazines and Google Searches
“UCR Magazine” (Winter 2022 edition)
https://news.ucr.edu/ (click on UCR Magazine then winter 2022 edition).
This includes two articles (“ Still Rising” and “Sembraron similes, crecieron raises-They Planted Seeds, We Grew Roots”) by Sandra Ballazar Martinez that provides 50 years of Black and Chicano/Latino histories on the UCR campus up through the development of 2 ethnic centers.
“The Riversider Magazine” Dec 2021
www.theriversider.com (page 28)
An article called “The Making of Fairmont Park” detailed the controversy over the use of the pools and park by African Americans
“History of Riverside, CA”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside,_California
A description of Riverside by Wikipedia includes some historical descriptions of ethnic neighborhoods in Riverside
Riverside’s City government page
https://www.riversideca.gov/visiting-aboutriv.asp
Includes a historical perspective.
“Black History in Riverside” on the UCR website
https://news.ucr.edu/results?q=black%20history%20riversi de&search-by=all
Several books and dissertations are available in the Riviera library archives and special collections.
Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UC Riverside
The Center is dedicated to increasing knowledge on the history and issues impacting Korean Americans in the United States. Edward T. Chang is Professor of Ethnic Studies at UCR and founding director of the Center. He has written several books on the role of Korean Americans in Riverside. His latest, published in 2021 is called "Pachappa Camp: The First Koreatown in the United States”.
Pachappa Camp was located off 14th street/MLK Blvd just east of the 91 freeway and is currently marked only by a historical sign. Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, whose statue is on the walking mall downtown, established Pachappa Camp in the early 20th century. He helped Koreans find work in the citrus industry which made Riverside a popular destination for Korean immigrants.
Books
In the Country of Women: A Memoir
by Susan Straight, a local author
She shares the story of her multiracial family in the Eastside of Riverside
No Easy Way: Integrating Riverside Schools
by Art Littleworth (2014)
Describes the effort to integrate the Riverside School District schools
"Pachappa Camp: The First Koreatown in the United States”
by Edward T. Chang (2021)
The House on Lemon Street: Japanese Pioneers and the American Dream
by Mark Rawitsch (2012)Details the legal fight over Japanese rights at the time of World War II by the Harada family in Riverside.
A Colony for California; Riverside’s first 100 Years, Third Edition (2013)
by Tom Patterson.
The Museum Press of the Riverside Museum Associates
Provides a detailed history of Riverside up to 1970 and thus includes some descriptions of race relations during Riverside’s first 100 years (see the index).
Note: Our thanks to Marc Robinson, History professor from CA State University -San Bernardino, and Cati Porter, Executive Director of Inlandia Institute, for contributing to the above information.
5/8/22, rev. 10/04/22
Developed for Antiracist Riverside by Donna Dahl and edited by Julianna Carrera
A History of Race in Riverside
If you wish to learn about the history of race in the City of Riverside, there are several resources to use to get that information. Unfortunately, there is no one source to go to, but each of the resources listed below provides some information. More is being done in this regard, and this is not a complete list covering all races but does include some of the efforts currently in process to collect the information. More will be added as it becomes available or known.