First Sundays 2022-2023First Sundays are back on the front steps of our main museum in Downtown Riverside October 2022 through May 2023! All First Sunday events are from 1-4 p.m. and free of charge.February 5 - Will You Be My Valentine? St. Valentine's Day has been celebrated in Western culture for centuries. What better way to celebrate those you love than with a delicious cookie? Join a local baker to decorate your own masterpiece cookie (you don't even have to give it away!). March 5 - Reptile Roundup! Join Riverside's own Reptile Joe as we explore the wonders of the reptilian world. He'll bring some of his favorite snakes and lizards to share and talk about what to do if you encounter a wild animal in nature. Explore how folks camped in the 19th century at Heritage House in the exhibition In Tents Moments from March through the end of June. April 2 - Earth Day - Natural Dyes From insects to flowers and other plants, explore the world of natural dyes. Create your own imprint of a flower on a scarf as we slow down and learn what nature has to teach us! May 7 - Captain Carl and His Mobile Tidepool Join the Museum for the return of Captain Carl and his amazing sea creatures! Adults and children alike can hold a starfish, squeeze a sea squirt, and touch an urchin as we bring a bit of the shore to Riverside. Learn how you can reduce your use of plastics and make a sustainability pledge to help keep our oceans clean! |
"These Are Not 'Stories': American Indian Boarding Schools in Southern California" is a documentary gathering true American Indian boarding school experiences from the students themselves and their family members. Presented by the Museum of Riverside, Sherman Indian Museum, and Costo Endowment of American Indian Affairs, University of California, Riverside. All screenings are free and open to the public.
February 25, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
Sherman Indian High School, Robert Levi Auditorium
March 18, 2023, 11:00 a.m.
UCR, Palm Desert campus auditorium
March 25, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
The BOX Riverside, 3635 Market Street, Riverside
"These Are Not 'Stories': American Indian Boarding Schools in Southern California" was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities' Sustaining Humanities through the American Rescue Plan in partnership with the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums. Additional partners include the Sherman Indian Museum and Costo Endowment of American Indian Affairs, University of California, Riverside.
Attend fascinating discussions with people from our local community.
No previous expertise necessary!
First Fridays of the month | 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. FREE!
Located at the Main Library Community Room, 3900 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside.
Friday, February 3, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
- NEW LOCATION, MAIN LIBRARY COMMUNITY ROOM
Rosalind Sagara, Co-founder and Chair, Save Our Chinatown
Committee, and Judy Lee, Co-founder and past member, Save
Our Chinatown Committee “Chinatown, Riverside: Then and Now”
Do you know where Riverside's Chinatown is and how it came
to be? Learn more about how this historic site took
shape, some of the people who called it home, and local
efforts to preserve it for future generations.
Friday, March 3, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
- NEW LOCATION, MAIN LIBRARY COMMUNITY ROOM
Douglas J. Long, Ph.D., Curator of Natural History, Museum
of Riverside
“California's Elephants: Mammoths, Mastodons, and the
Megafauna”
A few tens of thousands of years ago, California looked a
bit like Afrcia, with herds of giant herbivores and
carnivores in a land that wasn't too different from
Riverside today. Mammoths and mastodons flourished and
survived until 12,000 years ago, but how did they evolve in
the New World, and what caused their extinctions?
Friday, April 7, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Brittney Elizabeth Stoneburg, M.Sc., Collections Manager at
the Western Science Center
“Doll Ponies: The Tiny Three-Toed Fossil Horses of
Ancient California”
Three-toed horses once roamed Southern California millions
of years ago. These prehistoric ponies offer a glimpse into
our region's past environment and a warming future.
Friday, May 5, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
H. Vincent Moses, Ph.D., Vincate & Associates History
Consultants
“Jekel, Spurgeon, Wilson: Riverside's Architects of the
Spanish Colonial Revival, 1914-1940”
By 1930, the Spanish Colonial Revival (SCR) dominated the
architecture of Southern California. Moses's presentation
will examine the primary works of Riverside's three best
known architects of the SCR 1903-1940 and place them within
the context of SCR in Southern California.
Friday, June 2, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Bree Putman, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Cal State San
Bernardino; Natural History Museum of L.A. County
“Does Fear Filter Lizards from Urban Areas?”
Urbanization is growing worldwide, displacing native
wildlife. Yet, some animals do well in urban areas (think of
pigeons!). But why are some animals better than others at
responding to such habitat changes? Dr. Putman will present
her research that looks at whether our native lizard species
differ in their fear responses toward humans, which may be
associated with their survival and success in urban
environments.
Friday, July 7, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Mairin Balisi, Ph.D., Augustyn Family Curator at the Raymond
M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
“California Carnivores Through the Ages”
Non-native donkeys introduced into the Mojave Desert have
become prey for a growing population of mountain lions, but
this is only the current stage of a long and complex history
of mammalian predators and prey in California, from dire
wolves to sabertooth cats.
Friday, August 4, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Douglas J. Long, Ph.D., Curator of Natural History, Museum
of Riverside
“Riverside's Deadly Elephant Rampage: The Full Story”
A traveling circus and an oil depot explosion set off one of
the strangest days in Riverside's history. This talk will
explain the events of that day in 1908 and unravel the
fascinating back-stories of the characters involved,
including the elephants.
Friday, September 1, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Phillip Stearnes, Ph.C., doctoral student, Department of Biology,
University of California, Riverside
“Life and Times of the Megalodon, the World's Largest
Shark That Ever Lived”
New research shows just how big this ocean predator was,
what it ate, how it lived, and why it became extinct.
Fossils of this super-shark have even been found in
Riverside County, dating from the time when the area was
under the Pacific Ocean.
Friday, October 6, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Jennifer Mermilliod, architectural historian, JM Research &
Consulting
“Evergreen Cemetery and Its Notable Inhabitants”
Learn about the history of Riverside's oldest cemetery, and
stories of the interesting people interred below.
Friday, November 3, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Christopher Tracy, Ph.D., Director, Philip L. Boyd Deep
Canyon Desert Research Center, University of California
Natural Reserve System, University of California, Riverside
“Sand Between Their Toes: How Coachella Fringe-toed
Lizards Helped Us Understand Desert Lizards in Africa”
The Coachella Valley is the only place in the world where
the Coachella fringe-toed lizard lives. Herpetologist Dr.
Chris Tracy will introduce us to his decades-long study of
this federally protected lizards species, how it has
affected development and natural conservation in the valley,
and how that project took the research team from the Deep
Canyon Research Center to Africa's Namibian Desert to
understand more about lizards that live on sand dunes.
Friday, December 1, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Cathy Gudis, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History,
University of California, Riverside
“From King Citrus to the Empire of Logistics”
The inland region today is occupied by over a billion square
feet iof warehouses, and Amazon is the biggest employer. Yet
the region was once promoted through vistas of seemingly
endless orchards and was known as the Orange Empire, where
citrus was king. How did we get to this point, where
logistics has dominated the landscape, and with what
implications?
8193 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92504
Regular tours of Heritage House are held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (12:15-3:15 p.m.)
We encourage guest safety. Please make a reservation to tour Heritage House via Eventbrite Link Here