A People’s History of the Inland Empire Digital Archive

Items

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  Sala Ponnech Oral History

  This interview details Sala Ponnech's involvement with union organizing efforts at UC Riverside in the 1970s and 1980s. As a young clerical worker, Sala became the chair of the local CSEA chapter, working closely with other activists like Lorraine Klein, Gladys Murphy, and Margaret Ellis. They faced challenges from management and competing unions like AFSCME, but were able to provide representation and support to many employees facing discipline or termination. However, the CSEA ultimately withdrew from the organizing effort, leaving AFSCME and other unions to compete for representation. Sala reflects on the power dynamics, gender dynamics, and political tensions that shaped the union organizing on campus during this period.
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  CeeAnn Thiel Oral History

  This oral history with CeeAnn Thiel explores her life, family background, and decades-long career as a small business owner in Riverside, California. CeeAnn recounts growing up on a large potato farm in Idaho as one of fourteen children, emphasizing how farm labor instilled a strong work ethic that later shaped her entrepreneurial success. She describes moving to Riverside about forty years ago, initially for her husband’s education, and eventually opening her own shop, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s. A central theme of the interview is family, both her upbringing and her collaboration with her sisters who also operated businesses in downtown Riverside, including the Windhover House and Simple Simon’s. The interview also provides insight into the evolution of downtown, particularly the Mission Inn area in the 1980s and 1990s. CeeAnn talks about her retail space initially inside the Mission Inn and now on the nearby pedestrian mall, and contrasts the area’s earlier, more intimate and eclectic character with later redevelopment into a more commercialized space. She discusses changes in retail over time, including shifts in sourcing, consumer trends, and the decline of independent shops. Overall, she credits her longevity to her adaptability, loyal customer base, and intuition.
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  Michiko Yoshimura Oral History

  Michiko Yoshimura was born on January 22, 1941 in the San Gabriel Valley before she and her family were incarcerated at Heart Mountain and Tule Lake. After their incarceration, in the early 1950s, her family moved to West Riverside. During this time, her family ran a successful fruit stand which she helped with. Growing up, she brought her sisters to Japanese language classes in Casablanca and attended church events at the Japanese Union Church because it was a central place for the Japanese American community. Michiko graduated from Poly High School and studied education at the University of California, Riverside. At the time, she noted women could only be secretaries, nurses, or teachers. Michiko taught in the Riverside Unified School District for 36 years at three different elementary schools. Oftentimes, at these educational institutions, she was the only Japanese American person in her classes. She noted how she wanted to blend in and not stand out. She described where different Japanese American farms were and the racial make-up of different parts of the city. Also, she got involved in the Riverside chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) helping with the Sendai Festival, Thanksgiving, and summer picnics. Michiko has maintained the records and photos from her family and has collaborated with the Harada House, UCR, Save Our Chinatown Committee for cultural and historic preservation.
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  Meiko Inaba Oral History

  Meiko Inaba was born in 1938 in Hollywood, California. She was about 4 years old when she was incarcerated at the Santa Anita Racetrack, later being transferred to Heart Mountain, Wyoming. From there, she grew up in Gardena until she went to study at UCLA and briefly taught for a while before moving to Riverside after she got married in 1961 to Mitsuru Inaba. When she first moved to Riverside to the Inaba farm, it was a big change from her life in the Los Angeles area, and she talked about how isolating it was. When she moved into her current home, she was met with racial discrimination regarding the housing prices and vandalism that depicted racial slurs. Later, she got involved with the Japanese American community through her children' s schooling through the PTA, later meeting Sumi Harada and getting involved with the Riverside chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). She helped the JACL in preparing for the Sendai festival, Thanksgiving, Christmas parties, and Easter Egg Hunts for the community. She is also very active in historic and cultural preservation. Her father-in-law had saved a lot of the documents associated with the Inaba property as well as photos, and she was able to donate some of the materials to the Harada House and UCR.
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  OlaFaye Stephen Oral History

  This oral history documents Ola Faye Washington Stephens' experiences with systemic racism in Riverside, California from 1960 onward. Despite being told California was a "land of milk and honey" without segregation, she encountered pervasive discrimination: realtors steered her family exclusively to the segregated East Side; her pharmacist husband faced customers refusing service from a Black professional; and she was denied restroom access while nine months pregnant. The interview reveals how segregation concentrated the Black population in overcrowded East Side neighborhoods, limiting housing and employment opportunities. She describes her fear for her children in terms of policing and racism, and how she sent them to a private Christian school; all of them went to historically Black colleges and did not return to Riverside, which she was glad for. Stephens describes her engagement in many community organizations for civil rights, ranging from the Urban League to the formation of The Group, which brought politicians and other people together to “talk about the real issues of Riverside.”
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  Judith Auth Oral History

  Judith Auth is a librarian and community activist who spent 35 years (1971-2006) at the Riverside Public Library, rising from children's librarian to director. Born in Upland in 1943 to French immigrant heritage, she moved to Riverside after earning her MLIS from UCLA. Her career encompassed managing 27 county branches and overseeing the library's transition to digital catalogs. Beyond her professional role, Auth was deeply engaged in Riverside's social justice movements. She served as secretary of Nosotros, a fine arts workshop led by activist Lear Larkins, supporting youth programs and civil rights initiatives. She also worked with the Inland Agency addressing gun violence on the East Side and helped preserve Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery as a historical resource. Auth co-founded Inlandia, celebrating regional writers, and remains active with the League of Women Voters, advocating for voter access and community engagement.