A People’s History of the Inland Empire Digital Archive

OlaFaye Stephen Oral History

2025.001.002

Sound

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.”

Business

Family

Black Women’s Sororities

Racism

Community organizing

Riverside (Calif.)

1950s-2020s

Catherine Gudis

OlaFaye Stephens

02-19-2026

.m4a

eng

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