Museum of Riverside

Reading the Walls Online Exhibit - Room #2 : Case 9

Sumi Returns

The Western Defense Command revoked the west coast exclusion order on December 17, 1944. It became effective on January 2, 1945. In August 1945, Sumi returned to their family home. Her siblings settled elsewhere. Sumi was encouraged by the family’s former pastor, Reverend Ohmura, to open her home to displaced evacuees. By October 1945 Sumi had eight people staying with her. She placed a bed in every room with the exception of the laundry and living rooms. She screened in the second floor porch to accommodate additional boarders.

Sumi served as guardian and protector of the house, family collections, and the memory of her pioneering parents. She lived in the home until a serious illness in 1998. Upon her death in 2000 her brother Harold inherited the home. The home and its contents remained in the Harada family until 2004 when Harold’s heirs donated the site and the collections to the City of Riverside under the stewardship of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. Family and friends have many memories of coming to the Harada family home and remember the placement of the hutch and the pots and pans in her kitchen as remaining nearly unchanged.