Experience history from the ground up, in the voices of those who have lived it. We are a community archive & mapping project documenting historic communities of color, working people, and LGBTQ+ individuals in Riverside and San Bernardino.
How did Latinx Riversiders Create a Thriving Community at the Beginning of the 20th Century?
3 Day Lesson Plan, 55 minutes each day
Despite a dominant narrative that labeled the community as a “problem” and systems of oppression like forced deportation, redlining, and school segregation, Riverside’s Latinx community engaged in transformational resistance to build a thriving community from 1900-1950. It used methods such as placemaking via community organizations, pursuing economic independence, holding culturally-affirming events, and claiming space through recreation, religious worship, and military service to actively resist.
How can communities repair past injustices?
2 Day (55 Minute Classes), 11-12 Grade
Students will explore ways in which various community members have sought justice for the 1946 arson murder of O’Day Short and his family in Fontana, California. Students will analyze primary source documents to research attempts to bring this injustice to light, repair the harm, and commemorate the Short family’s death. After exploring and discussing primary sources, students will write an argumentative paragraph answering the question “Has the injustice of the firebombing and death of the Short family been repaired?” Students will apply what they have learned about repairing past injustices to research and bring to light an issue or incident that affects their community, and produce a 30-60 second “Instagram Reel” that highlights the issue and proposes an action to address the injustice.
How Did Mexican Americans Build a Community in Bryn Mawr?
55 minutes
Students learn about the ways that Mexican immigrants made community in the Bryn Mawr and Loma Linda area including how they faced discrimination, prejudice and pressure to assimilate.
How did Bryn Mawr and Loma Linda come to be?
55 minutes
Students learn about the area of Bryn Mawr and Loma Linda learning about land prospectors, early townsites, the importance of the railroads, and the beginning of the citrus industry in the region.
What did housing segregation look like in the Inland Empire in the 1920s-1970’s?
55 Minutes
Students will learn about housing segregation and its effects on Black communities across the country. Students will then explore primary source documents regarding housing segregation in the Inland Empire from 1920-1970. Students will synthesize the information to write a paragraph answering the questions – What did housing segregation look like in the Inland Empire and how do you think this history may have affected the communities you live in today?
What did schools look like in the Bryn Mawr area between the early 1900s and 1943?
55 minutes
Students learn about education and schooling in the Bryn Mawr and Loma Linda area with a focus on the development and dismantling of segregated schooling in the area.
Reimagining Citrus Labels
In this lesson, students will learn how citrus crate labels often tell an inaccurate history of the land and those who worked it. Through audio, visual, and other archival materials, students will see that the labor that went into making the citrus industry an empire was built on the backs of exploitation and colonization, but communities of color resisted and continue to resist to this day, not only advocating for accurate history to be told but that communities of color should also be the ones centered in telling this stories. At the end of the lesson, students will create and design their own crate label as a creative counter-narrative to tell a more accurate story of the land and labor of the Inland Empire.
Community Food Spaces, Cultural Wealth & Resilience
2 Days (55 Minute Classes), Grade 11-12
How do community food spaces reflect cultural wealth and resilience? Students will learn about the almost century-long history of Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino, California founded in 1937 by Lucia Rodriguez, and explore the historical significance of the space as a community hub, site of politics, and celebration. From sponsoring student historical theatre and community meals such as Feed the IE to hosting civil rights leaders like Cesar Chavez, Mitla’s significance in the community is historic and ongoing. Students will discuss the geographical and institutional challenges faced by Mitla Cafe, such as redlining, segregation, freeway infrastructure, and highlight the resilience that allowed cultural wealth to thrive, such as lowrider cruising, the cafe as a civil rights center, and community events for West San Bernardino. As extension activities, students can also learn about Glen Bell and the founding of Taco Bell (1964), as it relates to Mitla Cafe and Taco Tia (1954) in Redlands and San Bernardino.
Intersectional Identity and Community Support Groups
2 Days (55 Minute Class)
How do community support groups honor our intersectional identity? Students will examine the influence of community support groups and explore intersectionality. Students will engage in a historical analysis of important figures in the Inland Empire community, analyze examples of mission statements from community support groups, and dissect the purpose of community support groups and their principles. For the culminating project, students will work in groups to create their own mission statement in support of a community group of their choice, along with five principles to identify and support a specific group.
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