Sweet and Sour Stories of Citrus

UCR Today


May 6 festival will unveil progress to cultivate inclusive histories at Riverside’s California State Citrus Historic Park
By Bettye Miller on April 21, 2017
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UCR researchers are uncovering hidden histories to help California Citrus State Historic Park tell a more inclusive story of the region’s citrus industry and use creative means to draw attention to it.

RIVERSIDE, California – The story of Riverside’s citrus industry typically begins with Eliza Tibbets and her role in planting the area’s first navel orange trees, Anglo ownership of groves and packinghouses, and a largely Mexican labor force. Lesser known are the contributions of African American grove owners, Italian-owned boarding houses, child laborers who were known as ratas, and a workforce that included Mexicans, Asians, Sikhs, and African Americans.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside are uncovering these hidden histories to help California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside tell a more inclusive story of the region’s citrus industry and employ creative means to draw attention to it. The pilot program is part of a broader effort by California State Parks to make its more than 280 sites more culturally relevant to an increasingly diverse population. The results of the UCR-led project will serve as a model for the state park system.
Inland residents will be able to see the progress UCR historians have made at the Sweet & Sour Community Festival on Saturday, May 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at California Citrus State Historic Park, 9400 Dufferin Ave, Riverside.
The festival will feature the unveiling of art installations, including a series of outdoor photo-murals, alternative “trail markers,” and a museum display – all under the title “Manos, Espaldos, y Blossoms” (“Hands, Back and Blossoms”) – collaboratively created by poet Juan Delgado and photographer Thomas McGovern; a set of two larger-than-life-sized stereo viewers set in the groves by artist Arnold Martin; and an installation of the ...

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