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.
Equal Access to Public Pools
2 Days (55 Minute Classes), 11-12 Grade
In what ways does having access to public pools impact a community? Students will learn about the creation of public pools and the challenges presented to equal access by exploring historic access to pools in three Inland Empire cities: the Fairmount Park Plunge in Riverside during the 1920s, the Sylvan Plunge in Redlands in the 1930s, and the Perris Hill Plunge in San Bernardino during the 1940s. Students will identify why having access to a public pool was important then and now – and how it impacts individuals and the community. Finally, students will research and map access to public pools in their own community to analyze current needs.
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.
Baseball & Civil Rights
2 Day Lesson (55 Minute period), Grade 9-12
How did Baseball help forge community ties and a strong sense of ethnic identity, pride, and power that was necessary for the fight for civil rights? Students will explore the impact of segregation on communities of color, with a particular focus on the Latino community in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Students will analyze an excerpt from the book Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire, an oral history from South Colton and photographs highlighting Latino baseball and softball players during the era of segregation. Through critical discussion and analysis, students will develop a broader perspective on how segregation shaped everyday life and how the community resisted by forging community pride, support, and identity as they fought in the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
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.
Harada Family: House on Lemon Street
This lesson plan provides students the opportunity to use local primary sources to learn about Japanese immigration in the late 19th and early 20th century and the ways California and federal laws created land ownership barriers for Japanese Americans. Students will learn how the Harada family in Riverside challenged racial housing restrictions and ultimately launched a historic legal court case that reaffirmed the rights of American-born children of immigrants were entitled to all the constitutional guarantees of citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including land ownership. The lesson plan provides a way to connect local history to national laws like the 1790 Naturalization Act (which excluded non-white immigrants from becoming citizens), the 14th Amendment, and the 1913 CA Land Law.
School Desegregation in Riverside & San Bernardino
2-3 Days (55 minute classes), Grade 11-12
How did communities in Riverside and San Bernardino challenge educational segregation, and what do their efforts reveal about the ongoing struggle for educational justice? This lesson introduces students to the underrepresented history of educational segregation and resistance in the Inland Empire, particularly San Bernardino and Riverside. Students will analyze primary sources and maps, hear community voices, and interview elders to construct a more inclusive narrative of civil rights history. They will apply historical thinking concepts to assess the causes, consequences, and varied community responses to segregation and integration. Students will demonstrate their learning by selecting a method that best suits their learning style.
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.
How can we continue to help preserve our communities’ stories?
55 Minutes
Students will examine oral histories and pictures showing community members from A People’s History of the Inland Empire Story Maps and Bridges That Carried Us Over oral history collection. This collection examines the great migration of African Americans to California from 1940-1960. This lesson also focuses on how people build community when they move to new places and the impact the Great Migration had on the Inland Empire today. The students will look at examples of how community is created and continued.
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.
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