The Grier Pavalion

The Grier Pavilion will be a community pillar that supports the concept of inclusiveness and the acceptance, dignity and respect that every member of the Riverside community deserves and should expect. Through gatherings in the Pavilion, the message to all will ring loud and clear; we are diverse, we are committed, we are inclusive and we are proud. The Pavilion will bring to life the uniqueness, creativity, innovativeness and dedication represented by the Grier family and other notables of Riverside’s diversity; Native Americans Rupert and Jeannette
Costo, Korean leader Ahn Chang Ho, Japanese trailblazers Jukichi Harada, and Miné Okubo, Hispanic heroes Johnny Sotelo, Oscar Medina, and Jesse Ybarra, Chinese icon George Wong as well as Frank Miller and John Wesley North.

honorees

RUPERT COSTO & JEANNETTE HENRY COSTO (R 1906 - 1989, J 1909 - 2001) dedicated much of their lives to Native American causes. From the Cahuilla tribe, Rupert played semi-professional basketball in his youth. He attended RCC and worked as a highway engineer, hydrologist, meteorologist, and surveyor. Later he became a historian, author, publisher, researcher, and public speaker. Of Cherokee descent, Jeannette was a reporter, writer, and public relations officer. Because they believed the true stories had not been told, the Costos worked together to promote the study of Native American history and culture. They wrote or edited several important books on American Indian topics, and they advocated for fair treatment of all tribes. Rupert helped form farm organizations, the Anza Soil Conservation District, and an electrical cooperative. He was a tribal spokesman for eight years.

The Costos participated in the campaign to establish the University of California, Riverside campus. They endowed the Costo Chair of American Indian Affairs at UCR, and donated their collections of artifacts, books, photos, and native language recordings to the UCR Library’s Special Collections.

AHN CHANG HO (1878 – 1938) - Called Dosan, or “Island Mountain,” Ahn Chang Ho was a Korean educator and independence activist. He came to California in 1902 with his wife Helen. In 1906 he established the New Korean Association in Riverside, with the goal of developing democratic policies to guide Korea into independence. Ahn found Korean workers in Riverside were walled out of work by Japanese labor contractors. With the help of Cornelius Rumsey, Ahn formed a Korean employment agency, and he worked along with other laborers in Riverside’s citrus groves. He urged fellow workers to learn English, to save money, and to support the Korean Independence Movement.

In 1912 Dosan became president of The Korean National Association, and he traveled frequently between the U.S. and Korea. He served from 1919-1921 as a minister in the Provisional Government of Korea, exiled in Shanghai. Ahn was imprisoned twice by Japanese occupation forces in Korea, and he died after being tortured. His character was shown by statements such as this: “I shall never lie. Only one with honesty can truly win in the end.”

JUKICHI HARADA (1880 - 1943/45) immigrated from Japan to California in 1903 and moved to Riverside in 1905. Harada came here looking for the American Dream, but at that time Japanese immigrants couldn’t vote, testify in court, or follow certain professions. In California, Oregon, and Washington they couldn’t own property unless they were citizens. When one of their sons died in a boarding house, Harada and his wife Ken decided to purchase a healthy home. He bought a house on Lemon Street in Riverside, in the names of their three children who were born in America. White neighbors sued in 1916, bringing about the first test of the Alien Land Law. In 1918 Judge Hugh H. Crain of Riverside County Superior Court ruled in favor of the Haradas, declaring that since the children were American citizens, they were entitled to equal protection under the law.

Jukichi and Ken both died at a Relocation Camp at Topaz, Utah, during World War II. Their adult children were interned in Arizona. The Haradas’ sons joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Japanese American unit, which became one of the most decorated units in American history. The Harada House is now a National Historic Landmark.

MINÉ OKUBO (1912-2001) Born an American in Riverside in 1912, Miné Okubo’s life differed from that of most other Americans because of her experiences in the Relocation Camps during World War II. A graduate of Riverside City College, she received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She had never been to Japan and did not speak Japanese at the time she was interned. Instead of succumbing to bitterness and despair, Okubo learned to use the dark days in the camps to guide her in her continuous struggle in life. Her 1946 book “Citizen 13660” vividly portrayed the Relocation Camp experience in drawings and sketches, some of which were exhibited in Riverside.

Okubo’s long career as an artist included several major awards, mural commissions, and noteworthy exhibitions. She worked as a magazine illustrator, with her work appearing in Fortune, Time, Life, Saturday Review, New York Times, and other publications. Okubo was a feminist and an internationalist; she included images of women and people from all sorts of backgrounds in her work. She used her artistic energy to promote peace and social justice.

JOHN SOTELO was born in Riverside, California in 1925 to Meliton Sotelo and Feliciana Escobedo, immigrants from Mexico. Sotelo attended schools in Riverside and graduated in 1943. Upon graduation he joined the United States Navy, where he worked servicing submarines. After World War II, he remained in the Naval Reserves until 1950. When he came home in 1946, Sotelo married Ramona Estrada. Family was very important to him, and the couple have three children plus an adopted daughter. Noticing problems in the community led Sotelo to become involved in such issues as housing discrimination, minority representation on the police force and in other public employment, segregation via school boundaries, and minority voter registration.

Sotelo helped start American Legion Post 740, and was active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He became active in local politics, and was the first Mexican American to be elected to the Riverside City Council, where he served from 1960-1970. Neither race nor color was on his mind as he made long-lasting friendships. Realizing that all people hunger for recognition, he worked diligently to overcome prejudice and racial injustice.

WILLIAM "OSCAR" MEDINA (1924 – 2002) was born in 1924 in the Eastside neighborhood of Riverside. He graduated from Poly High in 1942, and later served in the United States Army. During the 1950s he worked at Norton Air Force Base as an aircraft technician. In 1963 Medina and his wife Josephine Medina opened Zacatecas Café on the corner of University and Park Avenues. The Café later moved to University and Sedgewick. Through the years Zacatecas has been mentioned in many newspapers and magazines, including the New Yorker magazine.

Medina’s major contribution to Riverside was that he established a place where people of all walks of life, from all economic and social levels could come together. Construction workers, farm workers, police, politicians, business leaders, students, artists, writers, and homeless people all crossed paths at Zacatecas. Organizations of many types held meetings there, and the old juke box epitomized inclusiveness in its blend of musical styles. Just as Medina mixed together delicious ingredients in the kitchen, his skill in blending different types of people was outstanding.

JESSE YBARRA was the director of the Community Settlement Association from 1959 to1981. The Settlement House, located on Bermuda Avenue at the corner of 14^th Street/Martin Luther King Boulevard, is a social service agency that works to solve community problems. The Riverside Community Settlement Association was started about 1912 by Kate D. Wheelock, with its services focusing on the Eastside neighborhood. Through the years the organization has offered a wide variety of services, for everyone from babies to senior citizens. Juvenile delinquency prevention, counseling, and adult education programs were among the non-profit association’s many important projects.

During his directorship, Ybarra stressed that the Settlement Association’s clearing house services were available to any individual or group, and the agency would refer persons to the proper resources to address their particular problem. They provided language translation services when needed to help people communicate with government agencies. Ybarra constantly strived to improve the lines of communication between all facets of the community.

GEORGE WONG (1901 – 1974) was the last resident of Riverside’s Chinatown. Located near Evergreen Cemetery, at the Tequesquite Arroyo and Brockton Avenue, the Chinatown flourished from about 1885 to 1920. Wong bought five acres of the property, including some old stores, in 1941. For a few years he operated a restaurant there, which was called Bamboo Gardens. Wong preserved some of the artifacts of the Chinatown in the collections he amassed, which included old cars, car parts, old Chinese merchandise, furniture, and fixtures. A fixture of the community himself, Wong attended RCC and became friends with many local leaders. He worked for the Herrick family and for the Mission Inn.

In 1984 the University of California, Riverside, and the Great Basin Foundation launched an archaeological study of the old Chinatown site. This proved to be the richest Chinese historical site ever excavated in California, and the results were published in a large report. A short street near the site was named Wong Way, with markers that spell the name in both Chinese and English.

FRANK AUGUSTUS MILLER (1858 – 1935), known as the Master of the Mission Inn, was the quintessential Riverside booster. Miller bought the original Glenwood Inn building from his father in 1880. From then until his death, Miller was constantly adding to the Mission Inn, collecting art and items to decorate it, and presenting events at the hotel to enliven the community. He built the Mission Inn into a grand, first class hotel, encompassing an entire city block. But Miller’s vision was larger than his hotel. He saw many possibilities for promoting Riverside, enriching the town’s culture, encouraging tourism, constructing attractive buildings, increasing transportation, and expanding business. He worked quietly, behind the scenes, but his hand was involved in virtually every aspect of the community’s development and politics. His Huntington Park Association built the road up Mt. Rubidoux, where he started the Easter Sunrise Service tradition.

Miller had noble ideals that led him to be one of the founders of the Institute of World Affairs, which promoted international understanding and peace. Miller brought writers, artists, entertainers, and some of the best thinkers and leaders of his time to Riverside. Young and old, Riversiders have learned and gained much because of his legacy.

JOHN W. NORTH - In 1870 John W. North and his followers established a colony in Southern California, which later became the City of Riverside. An abolitionist and temperance advocate, North envisioned a colony of wholesome people who had the desire to better themselves and humanity. He anticipated a community of 10,000 people who sought culture, rather than saloons. Originally from New York State, North had been involved in businesses and building cities in Tennessee, Minnesota, and Nevada. He studied for the ministry before switching to law. A fierce anti-slavery debater, North was admitted to the bar and became a judge.

North opened the first square mile of Riverside to settlement, and promoted the digging of the colony’s first irrigation canal. In letters and pamphlets he encouraged other easterners to travel west, to enjoy the genial climate. North married Ann Loomis and fathered six children, including a son who continued his work in the development of Riverside. His vision of “A Colony for California” grew into a great city.

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