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Black and white image of Redlands' first Head Start preschool in 1968. From left to right: Carlos Ojeda, Bobby Gonzales, and an unidentified University of Redlands student work together to assemble a playset.
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Black and white image of Eva Romero Villegas with nephew Donald Motgomery, a sailor during World War II. Donald graduated from the University of Redlands and went on to teach at Redlands schools.
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Black and white image of Manuel "Manny" Villegas and his wife Eva Romero. Manny was an honor educator and community advocate known throughout the Inland Empire. He was an advocate for community programing including Folklorico dancing, Scouting, and the first Spanish Club at Redlands High School.
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Black and white image of Harris Dalhberg, Ben Romero, and Frank Romero shown working at Fairbanks Ranch in the late 1950s.
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Color photograph of Concepcion (Concha) Romero standing in front of the orange groves at Fairbanks Ranch. Concepcion Romero was an active member of the Divine Savior Church and was an entrepreneur. She ran restuarants and made tamales and tortillas. Her daughter Eunice Romero (Gonzales) noted, "My mother had a restaurant right here on Colton Avenue, on Lawton and Colton. There was a gas station and then a little restaurant up on old Third Street, and then her final restaurant was on Stuart and Third Street, and they were all Romero restaurants."
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Ramon Romero, one of the founders of Divine Savior Church, sits with his granddaughter Esther Romero at 1140 Ohio Street in the 1920s. The Romero family lived on the same street for over 100 years. Another granddaughter, Ramona Romero Dalhberg wrote a letter stating, "My grandfather used to have a horse named Jack and a cart and on Sunday mornings they would hold church meetings on street corners, like Calhoun Street and Brockton and different places. Then the men got together to talk about forming a Presbyterian Church. Gavino Trevino owned property on the corner of Webster and Union, which he donated, and they drew plans for a building. The building consisted of one large room with the front door facing Webster Street. It was a very well made building with a big porch in front."
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"Eunice Romero (Gonzales) was a bilingual instructional aid in the 1970s. She recalled one of the biggest controversies ever to engulf the Northside, 'When my children started going to school, there was always this measure of prejudice, especially when they started with this business of integrating the schools. You could see the prejudice, that these people didn't want our kids from the Northside at their schools any more than we wanted theirs over here because it was a two way street.'" Eunice was also active in the parent-teacher association (PTA), Divine Savior Church, and community groups in North Redlands. (Vasquez and Carpio, 46)
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Angie Balderas is a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire. Living in San Bernardino County in the early 2000’s she personally witnessed and experienced the negative impacts caused by warehouse “booms” and expansions. These include community displacement and health issues. From a young age, Balderas has been involved in clubs and organizations that have helped serve her community. She credits this passion for public service that involves activism, organizing, and legislative work because of witnessing and suffering from the impacts of environmental injustices. Balderas works alongside many organizations such as “We Are Colton” to help people and communities that have been affected by large corporations. She is fighting for current and future generations to have access to clean air pollution and not have their livelihoods disrupted. Balderas makes it clear that being resilient and having a strong united community is key to fighting back against injustices.
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Ana Carlos is a resident of Bloomington, California. She is an environmental justice activist who is fighting against the "Bloomington Business Parks” development. In this interview, she drives around Bloomington and demonstrates areas in town that will be replaced by businesses. Some locations she points out are rural areas with livestock and suburban neighborhoods. Carlos mentions that these neighborhoods are being targeted by developers and homeowners are being harassed into selling their homes.
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This interview explores the history of the warehousing industry using Andrea and her family as a focal point for the development of the industry. She discusses her family’s experience, including the injuries and incredibly difficult periods of time where her mom had to live in parking lots, going between one warehouse and the next, and attempts to come to a conclusion of whether the experiences were worth the pain or not. Andrea also describes the climate of the warehousing industry when her parents became involved and the changes which have occurred over the years when they have been working. Additionally, there is some discussion of large corporations like Amazon and Ring and their influence in the industry. The interview concludes with a discussion of how the industry could be improved and steps that could be taken to ensure greater workplace safety for workers, as well as a brief overview of the environmental impact of the trucking and warehouse distribution industry.
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Throughout this interview, Andrea gives her thoughts about environmental justice in California, and how political power is important for people on both sides of environmental justice. Additionally, she discusses how the Air Quality Management District is one of the only government agencies that has the capability to enact change when it comes to environmental justice. Following this, Andrea looks at historical attempts to regulate industrialization, in some ways early forms of environmental justice. Returning to the modern day, she lists a few reasons why people should be invested and active in the community of environmental justice and discusses some politicians who are on both sides of the environmental justice issue.
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This small black and white photograph is one of a series of two photograph showing the unidentified young man "before" and "after" donning military uniform for World War II. From unknown civilian to unknown soldier.
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This unidentified man stands in front of a common symbol for the era, the segregated barbershop. For decades, segregation in shops and services was common in Redlands. Manasses Soto recalls: "When I'd go downtown to get a haircut I couldn't get a haircut because the signs said, 'For Whites Only' and that kind of disturbed me because I was a student going to school and I couldn't see it in school with the students too much, but the adults seemed to push it on us. The only person that would take me to give me a hiarcut was Abe. We used to call him Abe Lincoln. He had whiskers and he had a barbershop downtown, and he used to go every year when they had the Lincoln Memorial Parade and they had a celebration for Lincoln at the Bowl, he would go and give a speech and that was very enjoyable to see the guy that gave me the haircuts."
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Three solders identified from left to right as "Babe," Mac," and Nello" pose at a Panama City Bar in 1947. The back reads: "Taken in Panama City, Sept 13, 1947" Nello, Mac, Me, My love (Babe).
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Three soldiers sitting on a rock or log near a forest. They are in military dress and are posing for the camera.
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Black and white photograph of an unidentified woman heading to work at Norton Airforce base during the 1940s. Her hair is short with a headband and she wears overalls. During World War II many women entered the workforce especially in the defense industry. While the common image was Rosie the Riveter, women workers were of all races and ethnicities. Due to federal rules against segregation in the defense industry, Mexican American, African American, Asian American and white women worked side by side on production lines.
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A portrait of an unidentified Mexican American naval seaman in military dress taken at a photography studio. The image is also a post card and has written on back "Daniel, Taken 3 months ago at Fresno"
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"The Guzman family home was located on Stuart Street (515) in Redlands. The house was near the family's Blacksmith shop owned by Carlos' father Epimenio. Connie Guzman McFarland recalled, 'My grandmother [Jesusita] was born in Magdalena, Mexico. That's where they have the coffin of San Francisco Javier .... When she came over, she was a little girl, she brought a sapling of a tree. And that tree, they planted it in front of their house. I think I have the picture of that. And that's why my mom and dad had this type of tree. In fact, those trees are planted, would you believe, at what they call the Catholic Hill at Hillside Cemetary.'" (Vasquez and Carpio, 21)
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The Guzman family home was located on Stuart Street (515) in Redlands. The house was near the family's Blacksmith shop owned by Carlos' father Epimenio. Connie Guzman McFarland recalled, "My grandmother [Jesusita] was born in Magdalena, Mexico. That's where they have the coffin of San Francisco Javier... When she came over, she was a little girl, she brought a sapling of a tree. And that tree, they planted it in front of their house. I think I have the picture of that. And that's why my mom and dad had this type of tree. In fact, those trees are planted, would you believe, at what they call the Catholic Hill at Hillside Cemetary."
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Black and white image of Rafael Gonzalez sitting on the lawn with his daughter Melinda on his lap in the early 1950s. Rafael Gonzalez apprenticed as a shoemaker in Mexico before coming to the United States as a Bracero in 1942. Gonzalez dreamed of returning home and establishing a business but was delayed during the war and was among a group of Braceros stranded in San Bernardino without a contract or transportation home. Later, Gonzales met Eunice Romero while working for her father, Jacinto Romero, at Fairbanks Ranch.
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Color image of Eunice and Rafael Gonzalez holding Bianca, their granddaughter, at their home on Ohio Street in the 1970s. Rafael Gonzalez apprenticed as a shoemaker in Mexico before coming to the United States as a Bracero in 1942. Gonzalez dreamed of returning home and establishing a business but was delayed during the war and was among a group of Braceros stranded in San Bernardino without a contract or transportation home. Later, Gonzales met Eunice Romero while working for her father, Jacinto Romero, at Fairbanks Ranch.
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Rafael Gonzalez is pictured here at Cone Camp in 1943. Gonzalez was recruited from Mexico City as part of the United States - Mexico Bracero labor program during World War II. "Coney Camp" as it was known to the local Mexican population, was a former jail and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) training center located on the banks of the Santa Ana River in East Highlands. Converted to house Mexican laborers, the facility held up to 1,500 men at a time. Despite federal mandates for reasonable living conditions, wages, and medical care many braceros like those living in Cone Camp lived in wooden barracks and sometimes in tents where the men endured severe winter weather and extreme heat in the summer. The Bracero Program officially ended in 1964.
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In this interview conducted by Audrey Maier, inquiries Christine Roque about her knowledge regarding her family’s history with the Citrus Industry and goes into depth about her personal experiences in advocating for her community in Redlands about the construction of warehouses and the fight against the building of a Super Walmart. Christine Roque details her memories of when her father and brothers worked in the Citrus Industry. She briefly mentions the role her father was promoted to and describes what his position entailed. The interview then transitions into a conversation about the beginnings of her involvement in her community and what that involvement looks like. Christine Roque mentions the different groups she was in attempts to push back on general plans and to advocate for equity for all of the different parts of Redlands. Lastly, the interview ends with a conversation about the negative effects of warehouses on people and the community and restates the negative impacts of the Citrus Industry.
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Eunice Romero (Gonzales), pictured on the left, as a child at Fairbanks Ranch.
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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."