Riverside Metropolitan Museum

Harada House

Museum Board Report 7.12.17 – Harada House Assessment

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The National Historic Landmark Harada House is a powerful civil rights landmark in California. This site and the story of the Harada Family embody local, state, national, and international issues of civil and individual rights, democracy, immigration, assimilation, and citizenship. Preservation of the site, collections, and stories ensures that these pivotal lessons of history will continue to be accessible for all peoples. Jukichi Harada, his wife Ken, and their first son Masa Atsu, settled in Riverside, California in 1905. They soon were operating a rooming house and the Washington Restaurant. Following the death of his first American born son, Jukichi sought a home with healthier conditions for his family. Aware of the 1913 California Alien Land Law prohibiting aliens from owning property, in December 1915 he purchased the house at 3356 Lemon Street in the names of his three American-born children, Mine, Sumi, and Yoshizo. He prevailed in a landmark court battle to retain the home.

The House on Lemon Street: Japanese Pioneers and the American Dream by Mark Rawitsch

Afterword by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi. The book is inaugural winner of the Crader Family Book Prize in American Values, 2013

"Drawing from an excellent selection of primary and secondary sources, Rawitsch recounts Harada's immigration to the US, the subsequent growth of his family, and the family's experiences before, during, and after the evacuation and internment. However, the true value of the book lies in Rawitsch's meticulous research into the legal battle Harada faced over his attempt to purchase a proper home for his children, and his family's struggle for civil rights and acceptance in the town of Riverside." —J. T. Rasel, Choice


Mark Rawitsch was Dean of Instruction at Mendocino College and is a founding member of the Harada House National Historic Landmark Ad-Hoc Advisory Council of the City of Riverside. Published by the University of Colorado Press.  http://www.upcolorado.com/book/_welcome/The_House_on_Lemon_Street
The book is available at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum Gift Shop.

Click the thumbnail images below for a detailed version
	Jukichi, Ken and Masa Atsu Harada ca. 1905
	Jukichi, Masa Atsu, Mine and the staff and patrons of the Washington Restaurant on University Avenue
	Menu for the Washington Restaurant
	Jukichi puts title of house in his American-born children's names
(Riverside Metropolitan Museum Harada Family Archival Collection)