A $500,000 federal grant was awarded to the Museum of Riverside for rehabilitation and preservation of a century-old house that symbolizes the struggles of Asian immigrants seeking to secure civil rights in early 1900s California, it was announced Wednesday.
The National Park Service named the Harada House among 42 conservation projects nationwide deserving of a grant under the “Save America’s Treasures” program.
“We are grateful for this award and the endorsement it represents for the Museum of Riverside’s plans to rehabilitate Harada House for eventual public access,” Museum of Riverside Director Robyn Peterson said. “This civil rights monument connects Riverside’s history with urgent contemporary social concerns. The grant could not be more timely.”
The museum is in the initial phase of rehabilitating the historic two-story structure, which is located in the 3300 block of Lemon Street, and the grant funds will be applied to that effort, according to Peterson.
Harada House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.
In 1916, the residence was at the heart of a civil case, California v. Jukichi Harada et al,, that stemmed from the 1913 California Alien Land Law, barring Asians from property rights.
The owners of Harada House were the American-born children of Japanese parents, and they ultimately prevailed in challenging the constitutionality of the state law.