Groups Hope to Raise Preservation Funds for Historic Harada House
The Harada House, badly damaged in the recent rains, is the historic site where a pioneering battle against racist Alien Land Laws took place.
Naomi Harada can still remember the change in her father Harold’s voice every time he would speak about the two-story house located on the quiet, pepper tree-lined street in Riverside, Calif. For the Harada family, the house represents so many memories; stories that span a century of Japanese American history.
This is the house where Naomi’s grandfather Jukichi Harada fought for a better life for his wife and six children, taking on a historic battle with the U.S. government and its anti-Asian Alien Land Laws of the time. Although Jukichi, a restauranteur, as a Japanese immigrant could not own land, he bequeathed the Riverside home to three of his children, U.S.-born citizens.
Jukichi’s actions in 1915 would encounter the wrath of his White neighbors and would eventually land him in court in the landmark case California vs. Harada. The case was unprecedented and in 1918 the Riverside County Superior Court would side with Jukichi, allowing his children ownership of the property.
“My dad was passionate about the House becoming public domain, something that could be shared and from which one could learn from. He often told stories about his family, he was a great story-teller,” said Naomi, a nurse who lives in Los Angeles. “My family deeply believes that the story of the house, the very fact that it still exists, needs to be shared with others. What happened to Japanese Americans need not happen to anyone else.”
The Harada House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and in 2004 the home was donated to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum for preservation. Currently the museum is working on a long-range plan to raise funds for the historic house’s preservation and to ensure the story of the Harada family is not forgotten.
“The importance of the site, its significance puts me in awe. The multilayer stories of the site are phenomenal,” said Lynn Voorheis, the Museum’s curator of historic structures and collections. “The story is so much larger than the Japanese American story. It is a story about what it means to be an American, an immigrant in this country.”
“The house symbolizes the heart or foundation for fighting for what one believes, that it is one’s right to have shelter, and that right was questioned by the state of California in 1913, and my immigrant grandfather, Jukichi Harada, fought for that for the sake of his children,” said Naomi. “The house also symbolizes our protection of those rights by the United States Constitution. Our society needs continual reminding of this. Physical structures such as the Harada House can serve as a learning tool.”
Today, the saltbox cottage house is almost exactly the same as when it was built in the 1880s and is in dire need of repair, especially after the recent rainstorms in Southern California. A new roof needs to be installed and the chimneys are in such bad condition they had to be removed. The foundation of the house is crumbling and recently support pylons were installed temporarily. Plaster throughout the house is also crumbling and the museum is working hard to stabilize the structure.
The Harada House is a literal time capsule, a treasure trove of information on the Harada family and the history of the JA community. Thanks largely to the efforts of Jukichi’s daughter Sumi, the only Harada to return to Riverside full-time after the war, much archival materials have been kept in pristine condition. After Sumi’s death in 2000 her younger brother Harold worked to preserve the house. He passed away in 2003.
“It’s like King Tut’s tomb. Sumi saved everything,” said Voorheis. “It shows the continual experience of Japanese American history in the United States. It expands the entire 20th century.”
Many of the documents from Jukichi’s historic court battles have been collected. The Harada family also documented their forced incarceration in Topaz during World War II including: a list of items taken to the camps, identification tags, a 1942 calendar that still hangs in the laundry room, and Harold’s inscription: “Evacuated on May 23, 1942 Sat.”
Family friend Jess Stebler looked after the Harada’s house during the war and his correspondence with the family has also been preserved. Also amongst the collection are Harold’s items from his time serving in the historic 442nd Regimental Combat Team, including his uniform and letters.
Today, the only indication of the house’s significance is a small plaque dedicated shortly after the Harada House was declared a National Historic Site. The museum hopes to eventually develop the site further and perhaps have a permanent exhibition and oral histories.
So far the Riverside Museum has raised and applied for about $249,000 in various grants including FEMA, The Getty, and the California Cultural and Historic Endowment. They’ve also asked Congressman Ken Calvert, R-Corona, to push for $500,000 in federal funds to help in the preservation of the Harada House.
Mark Takano a Harada family friend who Sumi used to babysit, is currently the president of the Riverside Community College Board of Trustees and is helping to raise funds for the Harada House. He recently went on a trip to Wash., D.C. with other College Board members to push for federal funds for the house.
“I think this story is quite poignant. Property rights is a fundamental right as a people,” said Takano, 45. “This story is worthy of preserving, teaching it to our future generations.”
Members of the Riverside JACL chapter have asked their members to help in the current fundraising efforts and to write letters to Congressman Calvert seeking his support. They hope the work Sumi and Harold did to preserve the Harada family’s history will be remembered.
“The chapter has always been around the house. When Sumi lived there, she was the center of communications for what went on in the chapter. But more importantly, that small historical marker in front of the house represents a major hurdle that was jumped by their family,” said Riverside chapter member Doug Urata. The Haradas “were pioneers in getting past the limitations that the government put on Asians.”
Naomi and the Harada family are excited about the preservation efforts currently underway and are working with the museum in their fundraising efforts.
“There is great historic significance to the house,” she said. “Not simply the history but how in America’s past there have been attempts to take away the rights of its citizens. From a historical preservationist’s point of view it is a gold mine.”
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