Beyond Downtown and Heritage House, the Museum of Riverside is finding spaces to tell the city’s many stories in its own neighborhoods through a series of “highlight” exhibitions.
Currently on view:
- Fred Stebler of Riverside: Machinery Whiz, Arlington Library
- Civil Rights History Happened Here: The Harada Family, Riverside Historic Courthouse
- Stick Together and Make Noise: Struggles and Victories in Casa Blanca, Ssgt. Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library
We’re excited to unveil “California’s Grizzlies,” our next highlight exhibition at the Orange Terrace Community Center on Friday, October 30. Join us for this opening reception as we explore the natural and human history of grizzly bears!
Fred Stebler of Riverside: Machinery Whiz
Arlington Library, 9556 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92503
When you walk into the Arlington Library, you’ll immediately be greeted by cases on either side that showcase the types of tools Fred Stebler, a citrus processing machinery innovator, would have used. Archival images show the results of his inventions that streamlined the processing of crops, making it easier to get the freshest food to customers. Food production was and still is an important business in California. Stebler was granted nearly 40 patents during the years 1898-1941, focusing on the needs of Southern California’s citrus industry. Stebler’s inventions helped make the state a global center for food production.
(The Museum of Riverside)
Civil Rights History Happened Here: The Harada Family
Riverside Historic Courthouse, 4050 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
The National Historic Landmark Harada House will soon undergo rehabilitation that will allow the Museum to open the house to the public for the first time. Exhibition panels on view at the Riverside Historic Courthouse offer insight into the local, national, and international significance of the Harada House and the Harada family story. Harada House was the subject of a landmark legal case that was heard in the courthouse where the Museum’s highlight exhibition is installed. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Hugh Craig ruled against the plaintiffs and in favor of Mr. Harada, et al., and affirmed the 14th Amendment rights of the American-born Harada children, allowing the family to keep the home despite a California land law that could have prevented it. The house embodies issues of civil and individual rights, democracy, immigration, assimilation, and citizenship.
(The Museum of Riverside)
Stick Together and Make Noise: Struggles and Victories in Casa Blanca
Ssgt. Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library, 2985 Madison Street, Riverside, CA 92504
Casa Blanca’s story is many stories. Each facet of the neighborhood’s history reflects the community’s determination to join forces to overcome challenges. This is the Museum’s first “mini-museum,” a unit that offers a 360-degree view of the history of Casa Blanca. It starts in 1878 with the neighborhood’s name, then moves on to the laborers who shaped the community, the tenacity of mothers who fought racism, and the losses and triumphs that led Casa Blanca to where it is today. Objects mounted in the mini-museum include physical signifiers of the neighborhood’s identity, alongside art and cultural resources still reflected in Casa Blanca today.
(The Museum of Riverside)
California’s Grizzlies: The Natural and Human History of Our Iconic State Animal
Orange Terrace Community Center, 20010 Orange Terrace Parkway, Riverside, CA 92508
The Museum is installing a second mini-museum at the Orange Terrace Community Center. Similar to the Casa Blanca mini-museum, this one will showcase in a 360-degree view some of the historic photos and objects that tell us about our iconic state animal, an animal that actually no longer exists in California. It will include fun features like how to say “grizzly bear” in different languages, where bears appear in marketing imagery, what they ate, how big they were, where they lived, and more. This exhibition will also interpret the complicated human-grizzly relationship throughout the state’s history through maps and historic illustrations. One portion of the exhibition not included inside the mini-museum will be an opportunity to stand toe-to-toe with a life-sized silhouette of a grizzly bear!
(The Museum of Riverside)
Our current highlight exhibitions will remain on view well into 2027. The public has many opportunities to explore the depth and breadth of Museum of Riverside collections across many topics while we await the reopening of our downtown site and Harada House.
For more information on ways to support the Harada House, future exhibitions, or to learn more about our events, visit museumofriverside.org.