What makes someone essentially a "Riversider" is not easy to pinpoint. We know the stories of the Millers and Tibbets and the buildings of Henry Jekel and G. Stanley Wilson, but Riverside's story does not end at the 91 freeway. We are a sprawling city of neighborhoods with distinct identities. Some are emerging as the city expands, but many of our neighborhoods are centenarian products of the ebbs and flows of 20th-century economics.
From college students who came and never left to retired military personnel and descendants of the citrus boom, Riversiders are here for the same reasons that Riverside is here. Strategically located and gifted with great weather, Riverside is a great place to build a business and a family.
This Sunday, January 12, The Civil Rights Institute will host a Pop-Up event at the Civil Rights Institute. Live From the Frontline highlights the interface between the newest emergent economic wave, the logistics industry, and working-class and minority neighborhoods.
"Eastside is one of the first logistics hubs, packinghouses for the citrus industry, of course, built up that neighborhood. [The Citrus Industry] relied on folks of color to actually do the labor of raising citrus and making this [industry] happen. At the same time, when that citrus industry went down, there was this disinvestment into the community that caused lots of issues."
The event isn't just a showcase of collected history. It is a call to the Eastside community to participate in the telling of their own stories.
"We have a digital archive built up from when our community members come to us with items that they might have in their basement, in their attic, under their bed, or in their closet that really help tell the story of our region." Maier continues.
"We've had things from someone's family business and records like business cards, also family photos from neighborhoods that I have disappeared as well as photos that were taken during important historical times, and so we like to sit down and work with folks and then make sure that we then allow people to keep their documents, but we then asked for their permission to make the digital versions available online so that people can further know and learn about this history."
These "People's histories" are often seen as hostile to existing narratives. This is not being billed as a chance for the Eastside to complain about their lack of representation in existing historical accounts but an opportunity to proudly stake a claim for themselves and their ancestry in the story of our city. A story's resolution increases as more points of view emerge. It creates a more accurate account and gives dignity to Riversiders who may not have their stories cast on bronze plaques but scratched with sticks into fresh concrete.
Live From The Frontline takes place at the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, 3993 Mission Inn Avenue, from 2-4 pm on Sunday, January 12.
