Museum of Riverside

Harada Exhibit Virtual Tour - Room #2 : Case 1

 The Haradas Purchase a Home

<p>Photograph, Cynthia and Anthony Robinson, ca. 1905. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.</p> <p>Cynthia Robinson, who had originally joined the committee to encourage the Haradas to live elsewhere, became a family friend. Ken Harada frequently prepared cooked meals for the elderly Mrs. Robinson.</p> <p>Los Angeles Examiner, January 6, 1916. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.</p> <p>The Harada trial was followed in numerous local and national newspapers. This article included the only known photograph of the house before Jukichi added the second story and the family moved in. It also pictured, five-year old Sumi, three-year old Yoshizo, and nine-year old Mine. </p> <p>Photographs, Frank Miller and Ed Miller. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Frank Miller Hutchings Collection.</p> <p>Mine Harada Kido, recalled many years later: "Were it not for his staunch Caucasian American friends, who gave him moral encouragement, my father would have been afraid to go it alone. My father met with Frank Miller, who referred him to his brother Ed Miller. He went to see him and Mr. Miller . . . said, ‘If you have any trouble, I’ll get my brother to help you.’ And then Ed Miller told my father, ‘Well, if they try and take the land away from you, I’ll buy it and then you can always stay there.’" [Rawitsch, Mark H., No Other Place Japanese American Pioneers in a Southern California Neighborhood, Department of History, University of California, Riverside, 1983, p. 39]</p> <p>Riverside County Superior Court, September 1918. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.</p> <p>In his opinion, Judge Hugh Craig described the Harada children: "They are American citizens, of somewhat humble station, it may be, but still entitled to equal protection of the laws of our land. The political rights of American Citizens are the same, no matter what their parentage." Rawitsch, Mark Howland, "No Other Place: Japanese American Pioneers in a Southern California Neighborhood", Department of History, University of California, Riverside, 1983, p. 68.</p> <p>Photograph, Sumi Harada, ca. 1922. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.</p> <p>Sumi would recall later: "We thought it was wonderful . . . [If] you’ve never lived in a rooming house . . . It’s just a bedroom and a little kitchen where you are. And not many places to play except if we’d gone to the park or gone outside and walked around. Out here, we had a whole back yard to play in." [Rawitsch, Mark H., Interviews with Members of the Harada Family, Mark Rawitsch, 2003, p. 11]</p> <p>Rocking Chairs, ca. 1915. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.</p> <p>Jukichi purchased a pair of Arts and Crafts rocking chairs which he placed in the front parlor of his family’s new home. These chairs remained in the house up until the home’s donation to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum."These rocking chairs, my father bought, they were new when we moved in…he thought that they were important pieces of furniture---to belong to this new house…" [Rawitsch, Mark H., Interviews with Members of the Harada Family, Mark Rawitsch, 2003, p. 19]</p>
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The Haradas experienced tragedy in 1913 when son Tadao contracted diphtheria and died in the rooming house. Partially blaming his death on the conditions of the rooming house where they lived, the Haradas were eager to find a home of their own with more space. The Harada family moved to a new rooming house and in April 1916, Ken gave birth to Clark Kohei.

Photograph, Tadao Harada's Funeral, November 1913. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection. A pivotal point in the Harada story occurred with the death of son, Tadao. Harold Harada recalled later, 'My dad told me many times how he had held Tadao in his arms . . . He cradled him and tried to help him with his breathing. He was choking to death . . . and did eventually die in my dad’s arms . . . I think that really changed his whole life because he wanted to get his family out of there and into a better environment. And I don’t think Heaven or Hell would stop him . . . from purchasing a home that he thought would be . . . in the best interests of this family.' [Rawitsch, Mark H., Interviews with Members of the Harada Family, Mark Rawitsch, 2003, p. 142]

In early December 1915, Jukichi inquired about a house at 3356 Lemon Street, listed for sale in the Riverside Daily Press. Initially, the owner was reluctant to sell to a Japanese family. However, an agreement was reached and the Haradas purchased the home for $1500. Jukichi and Ken were aware of the 1913 California Alien Land Law that prevented "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from purchasing real estate. But they believed they could legally record the property in the names of their American-born children. On December 22, 1915, the house on Lemon Street was recorded in the names of Mine, Sumi, and Yoshizo. News spread and neighbors formed a committee to protest this sale to a Japanese family. The committee hired Riverside lawyer Miguel Estudillo to file a lawsuit and offered to pay $500 over the original price of the house to entice the Haradas to live elsewhere. However, in 1916, confident in their purchase, the Haradas completed renovations, purchased some new furniture and moved into their new home. Notably, the Haradas received offers of support from Frank Miller, Master of the Mission Inn and his brother Ed Miller. By September, California Attorney General Ulysses Webb’s office authorized Estudillo to proceed with the action against the Haradas. The case was filed as The People of California v. Jukichi Harada, et al. in October 1916 and was the first test case of the 1913 California Alien Land Law. This lawsuit attracted national and international attention as Japan was emerging as an international power and would soon be an American ally against Germany in World War I. In September 1918, Judge Hugh Craig in the Riverside County Superior Court ruled in favor of the Haradas. Craig’s opinion upheld the children’s right as native born citizens to own property under the 14th Amendment.

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Photograph, Tadao Harada's Funeral, November 1913. Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Harada Family Collection.