A People’s History of the Inland Empire Digital Archive

Items

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  Eunice Romero College Graduation

  Eunice Romero (Gonzales) receives a degree from the University of La Verne in 1978. After raising a family, working as a laborer, and serving as a classroom aid in Redlands schools, Gonzales returned to college and earned a teaching credential. Years after retiring from the San Bernardino Unified School District, she recalled, "I didn't graduate from high school and well, I was like about 50 years old when a program was started through La Verne Colleges for bilingual educators, and I was lucky enough to know both languages fluently. So, I was able to participate in the program, which was - the acronym was SABER - and then I finished my college and I went into teaching."
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  1910 Class Picture of Lincoln School in Redlands, California

  Black and white class photograph of Lincoln School in Redlands, California. "Lincoln School in 1910 was officially segregated, but in Redlands, children from the Mexican colonia went to Lincoln, Lugonia, and Franklin Elementary, mixing with children of other ethnicities from their neighborhoods." (Vasquez and Carpio, 44)
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  1947 "Mexican League" Pony Major Championship

  Black and white image of four men, including Armando Gonzales (batter, third from left) at Community Park. This image was taken during the 1947 Pony Major Championship held at the baseball fields at Community Park in Redlands. Like many baseball leagues across Southern California and the Southwest, Mexican adults and children played in segregated "Mexican Leagues" rather than integrated teams.
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  Joe and Irene Gonzales Wedding

  "Joe and Irene Gonzales leave St. Mary's after their wedding in 1947." (Vasquez and Carpio, 32) Above the newlyweds, a quote is displayed above an entryway saying, "St. Mary's Church, built to the glory of God by the Mexican people of Redlands under the direction of the Rev. James Gray Pastor. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary by the Most Rev. Charles F. Buddy Bishop of San Diego on the feast of Christ the King," and "SILENCE IN THIS HOUSE OF GOD." On the back, it says "From the Studio of William Kingham, WM. Elmer Kingham 5 1/2 and 91/2 E. State St. Redlands, California."
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  Corner - Orange and Colton Redlands, California

  Black and white postcard with an image of the corner of Orange and Colton in Redlands, California. Sunset Market, Winn's Drug Store, and the Casa Loma Service Station opened at the corner of Colton and Orange, on the site of the former Wyatt Opera House in the early 1930s. Aurelia Ruiz Reyes recalled other businesses that provided goods and services to the Mexican Colonia: "Don Sabas we used to call him. Well, that little store [on Colombia Street] belonged to that man first. No, no, it belonged to Japanese people, and then he took over. Then when the war came he took his son to Mexico, and that's when Tommy [Martinez] bought it. Tommy had it for a long time, and that was the only little store. This other man had a bakery of Mexican bread right there on Lawton Street in front of the House of Neighborly Service. My brother-in-law used to have a little gasoline station on Stuart Street right across from Sam's Cafe. Oh, there was the Resbalon, a bar where they used to have food, it was a wife's help for their husbands to go."
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  Postcard of Redlands, California

  A color postcard of Redlands, California, reading "Snow-capped San Bernardino Peak as seen from Orange and Colton Avenues." The picture also shows Winn's Drug Store, a fixture in the neighborhood. From its beginnings in the 1930s, the store had a soda fountain and grill that attracted people from all over for its pie, milkshakes, and local gossip. By the time the photograph on the postcard was taken, the freeway had created a permanent barrier between the north and south sides and made the imaginary line separating the town all too concrete and real.
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  Lincoln School performance at Divine Savior Church, 1967/68

  Lincoln School Choir provides a concert at the Divine Savior Presbyterian Church in Redlands, CA. The performance happened in 1967 or 1968. The black and white photograph shows 4-5-6 grades the choir was led by Mrs. Kanfmann, Lincoln school teacher, and Mrs. Baker provided accompaniment.
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  Roque Children

  Black and white photograph of Ronald, Robert, Vicki, Felix, and Nelda Roque in 1955. The back of the photograph lists their ages: Ronald, age 10; Robert. age 8; Vicki, age 5; Felix, age 9 and Nelda, age 14.
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  Roque Sons

  Black and white photograph of brothers Ronald (age 10, center), Felix (age 9, right), and Robert (age 8, left) Roque.
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  Manuel Villegas with Boy Scout troop

  "Manuel Villegas, standing behind the second row of his Boy Scout troop, was an educator, health, and fitness advocate, and Olympic-class weight lifter. Villegas influenced a generation of young men and women with his determination and courage as he broke color barriers at locally segregated institutions before and after World War II. Known to all as 'Manny,' Villegas was a popular schoolteacher who donated much time to community service." (Vasquez and Carpio, 34) The Boy Scout troop pictured was for Mexican children while Redlands had another troop for white children this example of segregation was one that was seen in public pools, local barbershops, and other places in Redlands.
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  Joe and Irene Gonzales Wedding Surrounded by Family

  Black and white photograph of Joe and Irene Gonzales's wedding at St. Mary's Church Redlands in 1947. The group photograph shows the newlyweds at the alter surrounded by their many attendants, including a ring bearer and flower girls.
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  First Service at St. Mary's Catholic Church

  Black and white photograph showing the first service at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Redlands in 1943. In the early days of Redlands, Our Lady of Mercy served as a spiritual home to the growing Mexican community but by the 1930s, it became apparent that the congregation needed a new space. Funds were raised one dollar at a time through donations collected by volunteers. St. Mary's Church opened its doors in 1943.
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  St. Mary's Catholic Church

  St. Mary's Church was built in the 1940s when the congregation of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church grew too large. "Lupe Yglesias reflected on the origins of St. Mary's Church, 'Well, you know, before I forget, I was just thinking, all the Mexican ladies got together. We needed a church. So they would all - Concha Viramontes and some other ladies - would go once a month to collect from every Spanish family. One dollar a month to build the church. So actually, the Mexican people helped come up with that church, then it became St. Mary's.'" (Vasquez and Carpio, 32)
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  Construction of Highway 99 near Richey's Garage

  Black and white photograph of road construction on Central Ave right in front of Palmer Leland "Richey" Richardson's Garage. Across the street is the La Posada Hotel. On the back is written, "Richey's Garage. 17 W Central Ave on left, Redlands Calif. looking West. Preparing for Hwy 99 which took off the front half of the garage. Looking West. Palmer Leland Richardson owner took foto." Highway 99 was once the road that is now Redlands Blvd. Highway 99 was established in 1926 as a route that ran from the Mexican border all the way to Washington state. The road was decommissioned in 1964 after the creation of the 1-10 and I-5 freeways and redesignated as Redlands Blvd.

• 1929 Redlands dieciseis de septiembre Queen and Court

  Pictured here in a partially colorized black and white image are the 1929 dieciséis de septiembre queen and her court in Redlands, California. Queen Lucy Hernandez and her court, consisting of Encarnacion "Chon" Manzano (left), Mary Macias (second from left), Josefina Lara (second from right), reigned over a daylong fiesta complete with a parade, music, and dancing. September 16, dieciséis de septiembre, or Mexican Independence Day, was and continues to be a major event on the social calendar of Mexican American barrios across Southern California.
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  Amelia (Sadie) Cordero

  "Amelia (Sadie) Cordero is shown here in front of the family home at 305 High Street in the early 1930s." (Vasquez and Carpio, 25) Amelia wears a drop waist dress with her hair pulled back in finger waves.
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  Leo Cordero

  Leo Cordero posing with a 1927 car outside his home on High Street. Like many working class people he benefited from the improved roads and access to motorized vehicles. "He and his family would travel to job sites across California." (Vasquez and Carpio, 43)
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  Sadie Cordero and Children Picking Grapes

  Black and white photograph of Sadie Cordero and her three children, a daughter and two sons, picking grapes in Salinas, California. Some Mexican American families in California would go pick various California produce in the Summer and Fall. Some picked apricots in Hemet, walnuts in Concord, stone fruit in Fairfield, and other crops. For many, following the crops was a matter of survival in the absense of local, full-time, year-round work. Families would spend summers and the early fall months harvesting crops throughout California and other parts of the West.
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  Lincoln School Class Photo, 1935

  Black and white fourth-grade class photograph of Lincoln School in Redlands, California taken in 1935. This was the classroom of Nellie Hernandez. On the photograph, Nellie has labeled some students.
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  Redlands High School Students, 1940s

  "Students cross Fern Street in front of Redland High School in the 1940s." (Vasquez and Carpio, 50)
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  WWII Soldier, Redlands California

  Black and white photograph of a member of the Roque family posing in uniform during World War II under a tree.
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  Margaret Roque Castro and Guadalupe Roque

  Margaret Roque Castro pictured with her older sister, Guadalupe. The Roque family lived in the neighborhood known as "Barrio Judeo." Margaret Roque Castro described the neighborhood: "I was born in a little area right there on Herald Street, they used to call it El Barrio Judeo, because it belonged to some Jewish people. There were several houses, little old houses, but they were, you know, liveable. Then my parents bought that house on Herald Street, 1113 Herald Street. You know, the same street, but farther down." (Vasquez and Carpio, 22)
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  Aerial Photograph of the Redlands Valley

  Aerial view of the Redlands Valley showing the 1-10 freeway, the city of Redlands and the San Bernardino Mountains including Mount San Gorgonio. Most likely taken in the 1960s.

• Lupe Sanchez Band, 1964

  Color photograph of the Lupe Sanchez Band with Blas Coyazo on guitar; Hemet Califorina, New Year's Eve 1964. Blas Coyazo said: "I play the bass guitar and the electric guitar and the electric guitar so for the last fifty years also, or more, out of the eighty-three years that I have, I've been playing with bands in the Inland Empire here. San Bernardino, Colton, Riverside, Hemet, Palm Springs, even Indio and Coachella, Perris, Pomona, Fontana, Bloomington, Corona...Saturday nights I used to go out moslty every week and earn perhaps twenty, twenty-five dollars extra...So I made that as a side work, you know, because I'd -- well, I learned how to play the guitar way back in 1927, '28."
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  Nellie Hernandez and Friends

  Black and white photograph of Nellie Hernandez and two younger girls at Nellie's house on Third Street in the late 1920s. Nellie is standing to the left of a younger girl seated in a rocking chair, with another younger girl standing to the right. Plants and greenery are in the background, with a chickenwire fence enclosing some of them. A white picket fence is seen in front of the plants, but behind Nellie.