CHB Staff Report 5-15-2024 — Riverside City Council, July 16, 2024

Cultural Heritage Board
Memorandum

Community & Economic Development Department Planning Division 3900 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92522 | Phone: (951) 826-5371 | RiversideCA.gov

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DP-2024-00577
CULTURAL HERITAGE BOARD MEETING DATE: MAY 15, 2024
AGENDA ITEM NO.: 5

PROPOSED PROJECT

RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the Cultural Heritage Board recommend that the City Council:

1. DETERMINE that Planning Case DP-2024-00577 (Historic Designation) for the designation of the Okubo Residence as a City Landmark is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Rule) and 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment), as the proposal will have no significant effect on the environmen t, identifies the structure as a cultural resource, and preserves the historic character of a cultural resource; and

2. APPROVE Planning Case DP-2024-00577 (Historic Designation), based on the facts of findings, and designate the Okubo Residence as a City Landmark.

Case Numbers DP-2024 -00577(Historic Designation)
Request To consider a Historic Designation request to designate the Okubo Residence as a City Landmark
Applicant Valerie Silva

Project
Location
2356 Eleventh Street, on the
north side of Eleventh Street
between Sedgwick and
Eucalyptus Avenues
APN 221-031-014
Ward 1
Neighborhood Eastside
Historic District Not Applicable
Historic
Designation Not Applicable
Staff Planner
Scott Watson, Historic Preservation Officer
951-826-5507
[email protected]

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BACKGROUND
The Okubo Residence
The Okubo residence is located at 2365 Eleventh Street. The residence was constructed circa 1900.

The Okubo Family rented the residence beginning in 1925 until purchasing it in 1930. The family lived at the residence until 1942 when Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D.

Roosevelt, causing the forced relocation of Japanese Americans to the War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps. The Okubo family never returned to the residence which they rented to Valeriano and Mercedes Silva during i ncarceration. In 1951, the Silva Family purchased the home from the Okubos and still own the property today.

As part of the City’s Japanese American Historic Context Statement ( Japanese American Heritage and the Quest for Civil Rights in Riverside, California, 1890s -1970s) complete in 2011, the residence was found eligible for listing in National Register and California Register Criteria A/1 because it is associated with events that convey the experience of the Japanese American community as a whole, and Criteria B/2 because it is associated with the life of prolific artist Miné Okubo.

The Okubo Family
In 1904, Tometsugu (Frank) and Miejoko (Miyo) Kato Okubo immigrated from Japan to the United States, reportedly for Miyo to work as a calligrapher at the Empire of Japan Exhibition as part of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Tometsugu and Miyo moved to Riverside soon after , where their first child, Yoshi, was born in October of 1904. The family rented a few places in Riverside’s Eastside before moving to the residence at 2365 Eleventh Street, which Tometsugu purchased in the name of his eldest daughter, Yoshi, in 1930.

While living in Riverside, Tometsugu worked at a candy shop, as a tailor, and a gardener/landscaper. Miyo painted at home while raising her six children, teaching them various arts and encouraging them to pursue artistic careers. Yoshi, Miné, and Binji went on to have careers connected to the arts. Miné will be discussed later in this report. Yoshi went on to be an artist and gallery manager and Binji was a painter and director of the Art Students League in Los Angeles. Miyo’s artistic skills lived on in her children passed her death in 1940.

Due to the forced relocation of Japanese American s in World War II, the family reported to the Civil Control Station at 3557 Main Street, on May 20- 21, 1942, where the family, along with other Japanese Americans, were placed on busses and sent to WRA Camps. For the remainder of the war the family was separate. Tometsugu, was placed in a detention camp in Fort Missoula, Montana. The camp was intended for individuals considered to be spies or posing a serious threat.

Often included in this category were first-generation Japanese immigrants who were active in the community.

After being released from the camps, records indicate that Tometsugu lived in Pomona with his daughter Yoshi. He passed away in 1956, and Tometsugu and Miyo are buried in the Olivewood Cemetery. Their daughters Yoshi and Miné were later buried with them.

Miné Okubo
Miné Okubo was born on June 27, 1912, in Riverside. She attended Longfellow Elementary School, Riverside Poly High School, and Riverside Junior College. She credits the pursuit of an artistic career due to encouragement not only from her mother but also from her High School Art teacher, Althea B. Williams. Upon encouragement from her Riverside Junior College art teacher, she applied to the University of California, Berkeley. In 1933, she received a fellowship at UC Berkeley where she would go on to complete a bachelor's and master’s degree in fine arts and anthropology. After a 1938 fellowship to study art in Europe was cut short due to the outbreak of the war, Miné received news of her mother had become ill and returned to Riverside. After her mother’s passing,

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Miné returned to the Bay Area and worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project and the San Franciso Museum of Modern Art. During her time with the WPA, she worked on murals, mosaics and frescoes at Government Island, Oakland Hospitality House, Treasure Island and Fort Ord. She also worked for Diego Rivera and it is reported that while he painted murals, she would explain the work to visitors.

The following excerpt from the 2011 California Department of Parks and Recreation Form (DPR Form), completed by Jenn Wilson as part of the Japanese American Historic Context Statement, discusses Miné Okubo’s artistic career and it’s impact:

In 1942, Miné, along with her brother, Toku, who was residing with her in northern California while he attended the University of California Berkeley, were forced to evacuate her home under Executive Order 9066. Miné’s family, residing at 2365 11th Street, in Riverside, was also at internment camps, but was separated in various camps. Miné was just one of 120,000 Japanese American evacuees incarcerated in America during World War II. She and her brother were first at Tanforan Relocation Camp in San Bruno, California. Six months later, Toku and Miné were transferred to Topaz Relocation Center in Utah. It was during this time that Miné sketched over 2,000 drawings of her experience in the camp.

Many of the sketches depicted the hardships that she and fellow evacuees endured in the camps. She submitted a sketch of a camp guard to an art contest in San Francisco. It caught the attention of Fortune magazine, which hired Okubo to illustrate a special issue on Japan. The job offer allowed her to leave the camp and head to Fortune magazine headquarters in New York City.

Miné Okubo’s sketches of her internment experience continued to attract attention, and eventually led to the publication of her book, Citizen 13660, in 1946. The book includes roughly 200 drawings along with Okubo's accompanying text. It was the first account by a WWII American Internee to show the experience of the internment camps. Miné’s work throughout her life gained her much recognition. She received the San Francisco Museum Annual Prize in 1948; taught art at the University of California, Berkeley, f rom 1950-1952; made an appearance in the televised program, The Nisei: The Pride and the Shame, Twentieth Century TV, CBS News with Walter Cronkite, in 1965; was selected by the California State Department of Education as one of twelve women pioneers in The History of California (1800 to present); received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for Art of the College Art Association, in 1991; had a play written about her life called "Miné: A Name for Herself”; and in 2006 Riverside Community College debuted Miné Okubo Drive on their campus.

ANALYSIS
The applicant is requesting approval of a Historic Designation to designate the Okubo Residence as a Historic Landmark.

The applicant has provided an architectural description, statement of significance, photographs documenting the architecture and building setting, and copies of primary and secondary sources as summarized below.

Architectural Description
The Okubo Residence is situated on the north side of Eleventh Street, behind a brick wall and hedges. The single-story residence exhibits a Late Victorica style with Colonial influences. It is wood framed construction, with a raised foundation and a rectangular plan. The residence is clad in wood siding and is capped with asphalt shingle-topped, moderately pitched gable-on-hipped roof with narrows eaves with fascia boards. A projecting porch with a shed supported by slender

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doric columns running the length of the façade (south elevation). The primary entry is centrally located on the façade. The fenestration of the residence includes fixed and double -hung wood windows with wood trim, some paired and some with divided light.

Statement of Significance
The Okubo Residence is historically significant because demonstrates t he Japanese American community experience in Riverside, including the practice of purchasing properties in the name of American born children and the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The residence is also historically significant for its association as the child who home of recognized artist Miné Okubo, who’s art demonstrated a firsthand experience in the Japanese interment camps of World War II. Despite its condition, the Okubo residences still retains a high -degree integrity required for City Landmark designation.

TITLE 20 EVALUATION
Under Title 20 (Cultural Resources), “Landmark” means: “Any improvement or natural feature that is an exceptional example of a historical, archaeological, cultural, architectural, community, aesthetic or artistic heritage of the City, that retains a high degree of integrity .” Based on the applicable criteria from Chapter 20.50 of Title 20, the Okubo Residence qualifies for Landmark Designation as follows:

FINDING: Criterion 1: Exemplifies or reflects special elements of the City's cultural, social, economic, political, aesthetic, engineering, architectural, or natural history; FACTS: The California Alien Law of 1913 prohibited foreign born individuals from owning property. The 1918 decision in the case of California v. Jukichi Harada upheld the American-born Harada children’s 14
th Amendment right to equal protection
included owning the property. The laws were later amended in 1920 and 1923. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the laws in a 1923 decision; however, with the Harada decision still in place, the Okubo Family was able to purchase the residence at 2365 Eleventh Street in the name of the oldest child . The Okubo Family were relocated to internment camps in 1942 as part of the Executive Order 9066 signed by Franklin Roosevelt. Despite the relocation, the family was able to retain ownership of the property until it was sold to their tenants in 1951. The residence showcases the Japanese community experience is Riverside including the fight against the Alien Land Laws and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II ; therefore, the residence is eligible for Landmark designation under Criterion 1 .

FINDING: Criterion 2: Is identified with persons or events significant in local, state or national history;
FACTS: The residence at 2365 Eleventh Street is associated with the life of prolific artist Miné Okubo, who is recognized for her work that provided a first-hand experience in the internment camps. Miné received multiple awards and recognition, including the California State Department of Education naming her one of twelve women pioneers in The History of California (1800 to present) and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for Art of the College Art Association, in 1991. The residence is associated with Miné as the family lived in the residence from 1925 to 1942. It is the remaining home that has the longest period of association with Miné ’s childhood ; therefore, the residence is eligible for Landmark designation under Criterion 2.

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STRATEGIC PLAN
This item contributes to the Envision Riverside 2025 City Council Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well Being (Goal 2.3 – Strengthen neighborhood identities and improve community health and the physical environment through amenities and programs that foste r an increased sense of community and enhanced feelings of pride and belonging citywide).

This item aligns with the following Cross-Cutting Threads:

1. C ommunity Trust : This Landmark Designation request is being reviewed during a Public Hearing before the Cultural Heritage Board and the public is able to provide comments.

2. Equity: Historic property information associated with this designation will be added to the City’s Historic Resources Inventory, which will be available to the public. This will allow information about the historic property to be available to all residents.

3. Fiscal Responsibility: No City General Funds are being allocated as part of this Landmark Designation.

4. Innovation: T his Landmark Designation request made use of current research practices and looks at historic integrity based on best practices approaches.

5. Sustainability and Resiliency : This Landmark Designation will help to preserve the City’s collective history for future generations.

PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
A public hearing notice was mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the site. As of the writing of this report, no responses have been received by Staff regarding this proposal.

APPEAL INFORMATION
Actions by the Cultural Heritage Board , including any environmental finding, may be appealed to the City Council within ten calendar days after the decision. Appeal filing and processing information may be obtained from the Planning Division by calling 951 -826-5800.

EXHIBITS LIST

1. Aerial/Location Map

2. Historic Designation Application

3. 2011 DPR Form

4. Current & Historic Photos

5. City of Riverside Japanese American Historic Context Statement

Prepared by: S cott Watson, Historic Preservation Officer Approved by: Maribeth Tinio, City Planner
N
DP-2024-00577 (HD)
Exhibit 1 - Location Map

SEDGWICK AVE
ALLEY

ELEVENTH ST
Project Site
0 50 100
Feet
Parcels
Project Site
Key
Cultural Resources Nomination Application

IDENTIFICATION

1. Common name: Okubo House

2. Historic Name:

3. Street address: 2365 Eleventh Street (previously 535 Eleventh Street) City Riverside State CA Zip 92507

4. Assessor Parcel number: 221031014

5. Present Legal Owner: Valerie Silva (951) 818-6676 City Riverside State CA Zip 92507

6. Present Use: Single Family Residence

7. Original Use: Single Family Residence
Date form prepared: April 22, 2024
Preparer: Carol McDoniel on behalf of Valerie Silva
Sponsoring Organization (if any): N/A
Address:

City, State and Zip:

Phone:

Please check the Designation for which you are

Structure of Merit
X City Landmark
1 DESCRIPTION

8. Legal property description: Lot 119 MB 006/027 SB Garfield Place

Include approximate property size (in feet): Street Frontage 45’ Depth 120’

9. Architectural Style: Single story wood frame cottage with a gable roof extending into shed roof over the porch.

10. Construction Date: Estimated 1910-13 Factual Source of Information: X Assessor's Records Building Permit Sanborn Map Publications Oral Interviews

11. Architect's Name: unknown Builder's Name: unknown

12. Condition: Excellent Good X Fair Deteriorated No longer in existence

13. Alterations: Additions prior to 1942, possibly prior to 1913: front room (8’x10’), bedroom (10’x13’), laundry room (2’x9’), bathroom (6’x13’). Rear patio cover (12’x42’), front porch cover (6’x30’).

14. Surroundings:

Open Land Scattered Buildings X Densely Built-Up

15. Use type:

X Residential Industrial Commercial Civic
Other

16. Is the structure on its original site?
X Yes No Unknown
If moved, approximate year

17. Related features and/or out-buildings: garage (original, extant)

2 SIGNIFICANCE

18. Historical Attributes:

Unknown Government Building Folk Art
X Single Family Educational Building Street Furniture Multiple Family Religious Building Landscape Architecture Ancillary Building Railroad Depot Trees/Vegetation
Hotel/Motel Train Urban Open Space
Bridge Rural Open Space Canal/Aqueduct
Farm/Ranch Industrial Building Dam
Military Property Public Utility Building Lake/River/Reservoir CCC/WPA Structure Theater X Ethnic Minority Prop.

Engineering Structure Highway/Trail Civic Auditorium Amusement Park Woman's Property Monument/Mural/Gravestone Cemetery Hospital Stadium
Mine Community Center/Social Hall
Commercial Building, 1-3 stories Commercial Building, over 3 stories Other:

3 Cultural Resources Nomination Application - Okubo

19. Architectural Description

The below description is quoted directly from the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation Form 523 used for listing of multiple properties to establish eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This description was prepared by Jenn Wilson on March 10, 2011 for the City of Riverside Japanese American Historic Context Statement.

DPR Section P3a. Description
The single-family property located at 2365 11th Street is situated on Lot 119, subdivision Garfield Place, in the northeastern area of the city of Riverside. The one-story building faces south onto 11th Street. It is rectangular in plan, with the narrow end of the plan the main facade of the building, running parallel with the street and the long side of the plan running perpendicular to the street. It has a wood-frame structure sheathed with clapboard siding. There is a detached garage in the back of the house that is not visible from the street. A 1908 Sanborn map indicates that there were three smaller structures in the northeast section of the property in back of the main building. By 1952, another Sanborn map reveals that the three smaller structures were no longer, and an addition, presumably the detached garage, was added to the east side of the building.

The roof is high-pitched, gable-on-hip, sheathed with composition shingles. The gable roof dormer is located on the top, center of the roof, with one gable facing east and the other facing west. The roof extends out a few feet beyond the front of the house and is supported by what seems to be four wooden columns. The columns are relatively narrow in width and are cylinder in shape. There is a roof overhang at the front of the property, but there does not appear to be a raised floor that would indicate the existence of a porch. The front door is centrally placed on the main facade, with a large, rectangular window to the left of the door and a smaller window to the right of the front door.

A chain-link fence, about five feet high, surrounds the property. Two concrete block pillars, each about a foot wide, stand on either side of the front chain-link gate that is situated about 6 feet from the front door of the building. There are bushes that surround the fence, making it difficult to see the bottom half of the property. Two large trees on either side of the home block the side views of the building, and cover a good portion of the front sides of the facade, including the windows. The landscape in front of the sidewalk consists of grass and a large tree on the right hand-side of the home next to the mailbox. The landscape does not appear to be well kept, as most of the grass is dead.

The exact year that the residence was built is not yet clear. The city of Riverside states that the building was constructed in 1913, while a survey done on the property in 2001 dates the construction of the building in 1910. However, the structure can be observed in a Sanborn map dating back to 1908. Additionally, the County of Riverside Assessor’s Office’s records indicates that the building was present before 1913. The first sign of structural activity on the property took place in 1899, when owner J.A. Clendenen—who also owned lots 118-125—made 4 “improvements” on the land, which valued the property at $50. According to Assessor’s Office archivist, Jim Hofer, the dollar amount suggests the construction of a shed or some other small structure. In 1900, Peter Schwab purchased lots 118 and 119. Land improvements were made, placing the value of the property at $150. Hofer argues that this could be the construction of a small home. In 1905, under the ownership of Geo Ward, improvements were made again, putting the value at $225. This most certainly suggests that the original structure was present by this year. Improvements were not made again until 1910, but only increased the value by $50, suggesting no major work was done. The improvement values stayed relatively the same until 1924. I therefore place the year of the building’s original construction between 1900-1905.

An inspection was done on the property on April 20, 1993, which indicated that electrical and structural repairs were to be made to the bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, front room, and roof. No additional records have be found to clarify what, if any, restorative work has been performed on the property.

OKUBO FAMILY RIVERSIDE RESIDENCES
Year Source Original
Address
Updated
Address
Street Rented Owned
1910 Census 160 3038 Denton St. X
1913-14 Directories 160 3038 Denton St.
1920 Census 608 or 680 2142 for
680
11th Street X
1921 Directory 756 2054 11th Street X
1925 Directory 535 2365 11th Street X
1930 Census 535 2365 11th Street X
1940 Census 535 2365 11th Street X
1934-42 Directories 535 2365 11th Street X

5 Cultural Resources Nomination Application

20. Statement of Significance

The residence at 2365 Eleventh Street in Riverside is significant as the childhood home of artist Miné Okubo who lived there with her parents and siblings from 1925 to the time of WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans in 1942. The home is further significant for its contribution to the history of Japanese in Riverside—their settlement, community development, forced removal, and return. The residence is eligible as designation as a City Landmark in accordance with the following criteria.

Historic Context

City of Riverside Municipal Code Title 20, defines Landmark as:

A. Any improvement or natural feature that is an exceptional example of a historical, archaeological, cultural, architectural, community, aesthetic or artistic heritage of the City; retains a high degree of integrity; and
B. Meets one or more of the following criteria:
a. Exemplifies or reflects special elements of the City's cultural, social, economic, political, aesthetic, engineering, architectural, or natural history. b. Is identified with persons or events significant in local, state, or national history.

The Okubo House meets:
• Criterion A: cultural and community heritage
• Criterion B: cultural, social, economic, political history The property is significant under the City of Riverside historical contexts:
• Japanese American Heritage and the Quest for Civil Rights in Riverside, California, 1890s-1970s.
• Japanese in Riverside: Settlement, Community Development, WWII Forced Removal and Incarceration, Return & Recovery, 1890s-1970s
• The Quest for Japanese American Citizenship and Civil Rights in Riverside, 1892-1946

The Okubo home is included in the City of Riverside’s Japanese American Context Statement that includes the following historic contexts applicable to the Okubo home:

Riverside is notable for the small, but unusual, number of prominent individuals who drew attention of Nikkei and non-Nikkei for their achievements or their engagement with significant civil rights issues.

The overwhelming number of Issei were hard-working immigrants struggling to establish themselves and their families in the United States. Instances of Issei fame, such as the Haradas, were quite unusual. It is remarkable then, that two other Riverside residents of Japanese descent, Ulysses Shinsei Kaneko and Miné Okubo also received widespread attention and have structures associated with them that are extant.

6 The City of Riverside’s contribution to Japanese American history at local, statewide, and national level has been established through the significance of the Harada House National Historic Landmark.

Apart from the National Historic Landmark Harada House, this aspect of Riverside’s history has not yet translated into common awareness or visibility in the city’s built environment. This work expands understanding of the Harada story by documenting historic themes and sites associated with the establishment and development of Riverside’s Japanese American community, early twentieth century anti-Japanese campaigns and legislation, the dramatic break in community continuity represented by World War II incarceration, and post-war resettlement.

The sites identified are also significant in national contexts, such as the impacts of Asian immigration to the Western United States, and the forced removal and mass incarceration of Japanese during World War II.

The city’s context statement includes these National Register of Historic Places criteria that apply to the Okubo home:

The listed property types are most often eligible under National Register Criterion A under areas of significance Ethnic Heritage/Asian, Immigration, Social History, and Law.

Criterion A includes “properties associated with events that have made a significant contribution to, and are identified with, or that outstandingly represent, the broad national patterns of United States history and from which an understanding and appreciation of those patterns may be gained.” A smaller number of properties may be significant under Criterion B, sites “associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.” To meet Criterion A eligibility, the property must be directly associated with significant historical events and/or patterns of events in the history of the Japanese American community in Riverside and/or the Japanese American quest for civil rights. To meet Criterion B eligibility, a property must be associated with a person prominent in the development of the Japanese American community in Riverside and/or the Japanese American quest for civil rights. It should also be the primary property associated with that individual and his or her period of significance within the historic themes of Riverside’s Japanese American community development and quest for civil rights.

The Okubo home is not eligible under National Register Criterion C, wherein the property “must exhibit Japanese aesthetics, methods of construction, or have been designed by a Japanese American architect or builder.”

Historic Integrity

The National Register of Historic Places defines “integrity” as “the ability of a property to convey its historical associations or attributes. The seven aspects of integrity are location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.”

7 The Okubo home meets these criteria in the following ways:
• Location, Setting – the home has not been moved and exists where it was built. The setting of the early 1900 neighborhood still exists. While the surrounding main arteries of University Avenue (formerly Eighth Street) have grown over time, the residential streets of the neighborhood retain their original size and usage of single- family homes.
• Design, Materials, Workmanship – city and county records do not definitively determine when the home was built. County tax records show buildings present on the property as early as 1899. County and City records show the house construction date as 1903. Structures appear on 1908 Sanborn insurance maps. A 1993 city inspection determined the original structure consisted of a small footprint with 4-6 additions done at unknown dates. Interviews with current owners determine that all additions were completed prior to family ownership in the 1940s. • Feeling, Association – as stated in location and setting, the house and neighborhood is predominantly unchanged since the time of the Okubo family ownership. Since it’s development the area was known to be an ethnically diverse neighborhood, which continues to present day.

Having only two families as owners/residents since 1930, the home retains the much of the original materials present at the time of the Okubo’s ownership.

History of the Okubo Family

Tometsugu (Frank) and Miejoko (Miyo) Kato Okubo immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1904. According to family lore, Miyo, an honors graduate of the Tokyo Art Institute, was sent to the United States by the Japanese government to work as a calligrapher in the Empire of Japan Exhibition at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. They apparently come to Riverside soon after, as records show their oldest child was born in Riverside in October of 1904. The family name appears in city directories starting in 1912. They rented houses on Denton and Eleventh streets prior to 1910, rented the house at 2365 Eleventh prior to 1925, and purchased the home in 1930. This was after the Harada family faced a lawsuit in 1913 for purchasing their home in Mile Square. The judge in that case ruled that American-born children could own land. We can assume the Okubo family felt confident when they purchased the house and recorded the deed in the name of oldest daughter Yoshi. It is also important to note that the Okubo home is located in the ethnically diverse Eastside neighborhood.

In Riverside, Tometsugu worked first at a candy shop, as a tailor, and a gardener and landscaper.

Miné recalled that her mother painted at home, despite managing the home and six children, and always encouraged her children to pursue artistic careers. In addition to Miné, son Binji (Benji) was a pioneering Nisei painter and director of the Art Students League in Los Angeles. Daughter Yoshi was also an artist and a gallery manager.

February 19, 1942, changed the lives of Japanese Americans when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, banning people of Japanese descent, including United States citizens, from living on the West Coast. On May 20-21, 1942, the Okubo family members living in Riverside, along with all Japanese Americans living in the vicinity, were required to report to the Civil Control Station at 3557 Main Street where they were placed on buses and sent to War 8 Relocation Authority (WRA) camps. The Okubo family was separated for the duration of the war. Tometsugu was perceived as a threat due to his leadership role with Riverside Union Church. It was common for the U.S. government to suspect Issei, first-generation Japanese immigrants not born in the states who were active members of their communities, of being disloyal and working as spies. He was sent to a detention camp—meant for individuals considered to be spies or “serious threats”—in Fort Missoula, Montana and then to Louisiana.

Benji Okubo was confined at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and other siblings were sent to Poston, Arizona. The U.S. military drafted son Sinji (born 1908) prior to the Exclusion Order. Miyo had passed away in 1940.
i

Like many Japanese American communities, Riverside’s never regained its pre-WWII population. After the war, WRA records indicate that Tometsugu lived in Pomona for a time, most likely with daughter Yoshi who had a home there. He never returned to their home on Eleventh Street. The Okubos rented the house to Valeriano and Mercedes Silva while incarcerated, and eventually sold it to the Silva family in 1951.

Tometsugu died in 1956. He and wife Miyo, along with daughters Miné and Yoshi, are buried at Riverside’s Olivewood Cemetery. Army veteran Thomas Senji (born 1914) is buried at Riverside National Cemetery.

Miné Okubo

Miné Okubo was born in Riverside, California, on June 27, 1912, one of six children of Tometsugu (Frank) and Miejoko (Miyo) Kato Okubo. Like her siblings, Miné attended Longfellow Elementary, Riverside Poly High School, and Riverside Junior College (now RCC).

Mark Rawitsch, author of The House on Lemon Street that tells the story of the Harada family, corresponded with Miné about growing up in Riverside. In a letter, she shared:
“My artistic talent was recognized early in the grade schools, but I received my first encouragement at the Polytechnic High School.” Miné’s high school art teacher, Althea B. Williams, encouraged her to believe in herself. “For three years I had a very understanding art teacher who took keen interest in my work and entered many of my works in the international high school competitions and other local shows. At Riverside Junior College my art teacher thought University of California, Berkeley would be the best place to continue my art studies.”

In 1933 she was awarded a fellowship to attend University of California, Berkeley, where she completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art and anthropology. In 1938 she won a fellowship that allowed her to travel and study art in Europe. Her two-year fellowship was cut short when war broke out in Europe in 1939. This coincided with news that her mother was ill, and Miné returned to Riverside. After her mother’s death in 1940 she returned to the Bay Area where she worked for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

When Executive Order 9066 was issued, Miné and her brother Toku (Robert) were confined at Tanforan Assembly Center, then at the incarceration camp located in Topaz, Utah. While at Topaz, Miné taught art classes and helped found a literary review, Trek, for which she drew 9 cover designs and illustrations. Because inmates were not permitted to bring cameras into camp, Miné documented her time at Tanforan and Topaz through drawings. She produced over one thousand sketches of life in camp. In early 1943, while she was still incarcerated, her drawing of camp sentries won a prize in a show at the San Francisco Museum of Art and a reproduction appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Impressed with her work, the Chronicle's editors commissioned a set of her camp sketches as a feature for their Sunday magazine This World. The sketches, along with Miné’s written commentaries on her situation, appeared in the Chronicle in mid-1943. The publicity attracted the attention of the editors of Fortune magazine, who hired her to work on a special issue on Japan. Because of this offer of work, Miné was able to leave incarceration and live in New York City.

Many of Miné’s drawings of life in camp depicted the experiences of women and children. After the war ended, she was encouraged to compile her drawings into a book. In 1946 Citizen 13660 was published, containing 206 of those drawings. This was the first published account of incarceration from someone who experienced it first-hand. The title of the book is the “family number” assigned to Miné and Toku by the U.S. government upon incarceration.

Miné worked as a freelance and commercial artist until 1951 when she became a full-time painter. She produced illustrations for newspapers, magazines, and children’s books. From 1951 to 1952, she worked as an art lecturer at UC Berkley before returning to New York City where she lived for the rest of her life.

In 1974, the Riverside Community College District named Miné Okubo the Alumnus of the Year, and thirty years later Riverside City College named a street on campus in her honor.

In 1981, the United States Congress created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to seek an apology and restitution for the injustices carried out against Japanese Americans by the U.S. government during the war. Miné testified about her experiences before the committee and submitted Citizen 13660 as evidence. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to officially recognize the illegal removal and incarceration of people of Japanese descent during the war.ii

In 1984, Citizen 13660 won the American Book Award. Throughout her life, Miné returned to Riverside often to see family and friends. She remained active as an artist until her last months of life. Upon her death, she left her papers and the bulk of her private art collection to Riverside Community College. The Okubo collection includes more than 8,000 pieces of artwork, professional and personal papers, and memorabilia accumulated while she lived in New York.

The Okubo collection is housed at RCC’s Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties, which opened to the public on Miné’s 100th birthday in June 2012.

i One of the strategies employed by the federal government to promote and enable the forced removal and confinement of Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II was the use of euphemistic terms that masked the true nature of what was being done. Japanese American were "evacuated," as if from a natural disaster or for their own protection, from their 10 homes and sent to "assembly centers" and "relocation centers," names that gloss over the fact that these were concentration, prison, or detention camps.

This document avoids using these and other overtly euphemistic terms, except when quoting from historic documents or in proper nouns. The term "internment" is used only to refer to the legally permissible detention of enemy aliens and not to the mass forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were U.S. citizens.

For further information, Densho Encyclopedia's full statement on terminology can be found at densho.org/terminology/
ii In the late 1960s community activists petitioned the government to investigate potential government wrongdoings. Classified information was uncovered that showed the civilian exclusion order and the incarceration of Japanese Americans were based on racism and falsehoods.

In February of 1980, Congress passed an act forming the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). This commission conducted hearings in ten cities, heard testimonies from over 750 witnesses, and examined over 10,000 documents. In 1983, the CWRIC issued its report that concluded that military necessity was not the cause of the mass imprisonment. Rather, "...the broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership." Acting upon the recommendations of the commission, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which President Ronald Reagan signed it into law. This law required payment and apology to survivors of the incarceration caused by Executive Order 9066. Two years later, President George W. Bush presented the first apologies, along with payments of $20,000 each to the oldest survivors.

The CWRIC’s finding are published as Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (Seattle: University of Washington Press and Washington D.C.: Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, 1997) 11 Cultural Resources Nomination Application

21. Bibliography

Creef, Elena Tajima, and Robinson, Greg, ed. Miné Okubo: Following Her Own Road. Seattle:

University of Washington Press, 2008.

Graves, Donna. Japanese American Context Statement. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. City of Riverside Community & Economic Development, Historic Preservation. 2012.
https://riversideca.gov/cedd/sites/riversideca.gov.cedd/files/pdf/planning/historic- preservation/Japanese-American-Context-Statement.pdf

Okubo, Miné. Citizen 13660. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1946, 1983 ed.

Rawitsch, Mark. The House on Lemon Street: Japanese Pioneers and the American Dream.

Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2012.

Robinson, Greg. After Camp: Portraits in Midcentury Japanese American Life and Politics.

Berkeley: University of California Pres, 2012.

Robinson, Greg. “Miné Okubo” Densho Encyclopedia. 2020. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Miné_Okubo

Spring, Kelly. "Miné Okubo" National Women's History Museum. 2017. Accessed February 27, 2024. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/Miné-okubo

Ueno, Rihoko. “Miné Okubo, Number 13660” Smithsonian Archives of American Art. 2015.

Accessed February 27, 2024.
https://www.aaa.si.edu/blog/2015/05/min%C3%A9-okubo-number-13660

Wilson, Jenn. DPR 523 Form. State of California Office of Historic Preservation. 2011.

“Miné Okubo” Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://socialjustice.rccd.edu/collections/okubo.html

1910 United States Federal Census for years 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940

National Archives WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947

Riverside County Assessor’s records

Riverside City Directories, 1902-1960

United States Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946

12 Scott K. W
atson, Historic Preservation Officer
Community & Economic Development, Historic Preservation City of Riverside Planning Department
3900 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
April 22, 2024
RE: City Landmark Application for the Okubo House
Dear Mr
. Watson,
Thank you for considering the City Landmark application for the Okubo family home located at 2365 Eleventh Street in Riverside.

This application was prepared by Carol McDoniel at my
request. It is the desire of the Silva family to designate the home as a City of Riverside Cultural Resource and we fully support this application.

Thank you,
Valerie Silva
2365 Eleventh S
treet
Riverside, CA 92607
Cultural Resources Nomination Application

SIGNIFICANCE

22. Photographs

Okubo Family Home on Eleventh Street, Riverside CA

Sanborn Map Riversside 1908, republished 1952, sheet 33 13 Okubo F
amily Home on Eleventh Street, Riverside CA (2024)
14 Tometsugu and Meijoko Okubo.

Marvis, Barbara J. Famous People of Asian Ancestry. Volume V. Mitchell Lane, 1994. 15 1930 US Census showing Tometsugu (Frank) and Miyo Okubo living at 2365 Eleventh St. with their six children.
16 1940 US Census showing Tometsugu (Frank) and Toku (Robert) Okubo living at 2365 Eleventh. 17 Or
iginal address 535 Eleventh was changed to 2365 when Riverside changed address numbering.

Riverside City Directory 1925.
18 Riv
erside City Directory 1934
19 Riv
erside City Directory 1937
20 Riv
erside City Directory 1942
21 Dur
ing WWII incarceration the Okubos rented the home to Valeriano and Mercedes Silva who later purchased the home. The Silva family still owns the home.

Riverside City Directory 1943
22 Ri
verside Polytechnic High School 1930
23 Be
nji Okubo, first prize winner, art contest
Riverside Daily Press, March 19, 1928
Los
Angeles Times, March 16, 1928
Yos
hi Okubo opens art studio on Main Street,
Riverside Daily Press, December 8, 1932
24 Ci
vilian Exclusion Order No. 83 for portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties Archives, Japanese American National Museum
25 Trek V ol. 1, no. 1, 1942 December. Esther
McCoy papers, Archives of American Art,
Smithsonian Institution.

Page 3 ends

February. Esther McCoy papers, Archives of
American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
26 "
Illustration from “Citizen 13660” depicting Miné Okubo and her brother Toku standing with their government-issued family identification number affixed to both their baggage and clothing.

Illustration from “Citizen 13660” depicting Miné Okubo and others at Tanforan Assembly Center where waiting in line “…describes our everyday life.” Archives, Japanese American National Museum
27 Su
mi Harada (front left) with Miné Okubo (front center) and friends, July 1974.

Harada Family Archive, Museum of Riverside
28 DPR 523A (1/95) *Required information

Page 1 of 7 ends

P1. Other Identifier: Miné Okubo Childhood Residence
*P2.Location: Not for Publication  Unrestricted *a. County Riverside and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5' Quad Date T ; R ; of of Sec ; B.M. c. Address 2365 Eleventh Street City Riverside Zip 92507 d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone : mE/ mN/ e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) APN: 221031014

*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) The single-family property located at 2365 11 th Street is situated on Lot 119, subdivision Garfield Place, in the northeastern area of the city of Riverside. The one-story building faces south onto 11th Street. It is rectangular in plan, with the narrow end of the plan the main facade of the building, running parallel with the street and the long side of the plan running perpendicular to the street.

See continuation sheet.

*P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP2 *P4. Resources Present:  Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo: (view,
date, accession #) January 28,
2011; Photo shows the front
facing south onto 11th Street.

*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Source:  Historic Prehistoric
Both
1900-1905 (Assessor’s
records)

*P7. Owner and Address:

Not Available

*P8. Recorded by:
(Name,
affiliation, and address)
Jenn Wilson
University of California
Riverside
900 University Avenue
Riverside, CA 92507
*P9.Date Recorded: March 10,
2011
*P10. Survey Type: (Describe)
Intensive Level
*P11. Report Citation (Cite survey
report and other sources, or enter
"none.")

*Attachments: NONE Location Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List):

State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
PRIMARY RECORD T r i n o m i a l
NRHP Status Code 3S
Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date

DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information

Page 2 ends

*Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) __ 2365 11th Street B1. Historic Name:

B2. Common Name: Miné Okubo House
B3. Original Use: _ Single-Family Residence B4. Present Use: Single-Family Residence *B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations)

*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date: N/A Original Location: N/A *B8. Related Features:

Rear shed/barn

B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown *B10. Significance: Theme Japanese in Riverside: Settlement & Community Development, World War II Forced Removal and Incarceration, and Return and Recovery; The Quest for Japanese American Citizenship & Civil Rights in Riverside Area: City of Riverside
Period of Significance 1925-1945 Property Type HP2 Applicable Criteria A/1, B/2 (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.)

This residence is significant under National Register and California Register Criteria A/1 because it is associated with events that convey the experience of the Japanese American community as a whole, and Criteria B/2 because it is associated with the life of prolific artist Miné Okubo. It is the remaining home that has the longest period of association with Miné during her productive period of life in Riverside. The Okubo’s moved there in 1925, and in 1931, Miné’s father purchased the house in the name of Yoshi Okubo, Miné’s eldest sister—then 24 years of age, due to the Alien Land Law. The residents were displaced as a result of World War II forced removal and incarceration. Miné was able to translate the experience into powerful artistic records of what they and their families endured. Miné died in 2001 and left her collection of letters, paintings, and drawings to Riverside City College. They are on display and available for research in the Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties.

Please see continuation sheet.

B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP 36 (JA) *B12. References:

See continuation sheet.

B13. Remarks:

*B14. Evaluator: Jenn Wilson
*Date of Evaluation: March 10, 2011

State of California The Resources Agency Primary#
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#

BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
(This space reserved for official comments.)
(Sketch Map with north arrow required.)

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary#
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION H R I #
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial

Page 3 of 7 ends

*Recorded by: Jenn Wilson *Date March 10, 2011 X Continuation Update

P3a. Description (cont.)

The home is a wood-frame structure sheathed with clapboard siding. There is a detached shed/barn to the rear of the house that is not visible from the street but is visible from the alley. A 1908 Sanborn map indicates that there were three smaller structures in the northeast section of the property in back of the main building. By 1952, another Sanborn map reveals that two of the three smaller structures were no longer present, and an addition was added to the east side of the building. Neither the remaining detached structure nor the addition is denoted by the Sanborn map for the purpose of housing automobiles.

The roof is high-pitched, gable-on-hip, sheathed with composition shingles. The gable roof dormer is located on the top, center of the roof, with one gable facing east and the other facing west. A shed roof extends out a few feet beyond the front of the house and is supported by what appear to be four wooden columns. The classical columns are relatively narrow in width and are cylindrical in shape, with capitals. Two steps lead to a stoop, but there does not appear to be a raised floor that would indicate the existence of a porch. The front door is centrally placed on the main facade, with a large, rectangular one-over-one double hung wood window to the right of the door and a larger appearing window to the left. A portion of the right elevation appears to be board and batten, while the left side of the house is clearly horizontal siding like the front.

A chain-link fence, about five feet high, surrounds the property. Two concrete block pillars, each about a foot wide, stand on either side of the front chain-link gate that is situated about 6 feet from the front door of the building. There are overgrown bushes that surround the fence, making it difficult to see the home clearly. Two large trees on either side of the home block the side views of the building, and cover a good portion of the front sides of the facade, including the windows. The landscape in front of the sidewalk consists of grass and a large tree on the right hand-side of the home next to the mailbox. The landscape does not appear to be well kept, as most of the grass is dead.

However, the structure can be observed in a Sanborn map dating back to 1908. Additionally, the County of Riverside Assessor’s Office records indicate that the building was present before 1913. The first sign of structural activity on the property took place in 1899, when owner J.A. Clendenen—who also owned lots 118-125—made “improvements” on the land, which valued the property at $50. According to Assessor’s Office archivist, Jim Hofer, the dollar am ount suggests the construction of a shed or some other small structure. In 1900, Peter Schwab purchased lots 118 and 119. Land improvements were made, placing the value of the property at $150. Hofer argues that this could be the construction of a small home. In 1905, under the ownership of Geo Ward, improvements were made again, putting the value at $225. This most certainly suggests that the original structure was present by this year. Improvements were not made again until 1910, but only increased the value by $50, suggesting no major work was done. The improvement values stayed relatively the same until 1924. I therefore place the year of the building’s original construction between 1900 and 1905.

An inspection was done on the property on April 20, 1993, which indicated that electrical and structural repairs were to be made to the bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, front room, and roof. No additional records have been found to clarify what, if any, restorative work has been performed on the property.

B10. Significance (cont.):

Famed Japanese American artist, Miné Okubo, and her family once occupied the home at 2365 11 th Street. Miné’s
father, Fame Okubo, a scholar in Japan, first emigrated from Japan in 1900. i Miné, the youngest of four, was born in Riverside on June 27, 1912. Earliest accounts on the Okubo’s residence show that Miné and her family lived at 160 (3038) Denton Street as early as 1915 (*Please see Okubo Residences Chart below). ii 1920s Census indicates that the Okubo’s rented the property at 608 11th Street. However, the house number 608 was not found on our address converter, though 680 was found on the converter, which is the property at present day 2142 11th St. In 1921, the Okubo’s moved again, just about a block away, on the same street, to 756 W 11th Street (Miné’s father was listed at

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary#
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION H R I #
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial

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*Recorded by: Jenn Wilson *Date March 10, 2011 X Continuation Update

B10: Significance (cont.):

756 West 11th, while her mother, Miyo Okubo, was listed at 756 East 11th Street; another typo), which is currently 2054 11th Street.iii According to Miné’s biography, she grew up in a home off of Kansas Avenue and 11 th streets. iv Supporting this, the property the Okubo’s possibly lived in anywhere from 1915-1920, present day 2142 11th St, is just west of Kansas Avenue, while the property they occupied beginning in 1921, present day 2054 11th Street, is just east of Kansas Avenue.

OKUBO RESIDENCES CHART

Census
Year
Old
Address
New Address Street Owned Did not
own
Miné
’s
Age
1915 160 3038 Denton
St.

X 3
1920 608 or 680 No new address for 608; 2142
for 680
11th St. X 8
1921 756 2054 11 th St. X 9
1925 535 2365 11 th St. X
Owned in
1931
13 Census records show that by 1925, the Okubo’s had moved two blocks west to 535 11 th Street (present day 2365 11th
Street), when Miné was about 13 years old.v They rented the property until 1931, when Miné’s father, purchased the property in the name of his eldest, American-born daughter Yoshi Okubo--then 24 years of age.vi This event exemplifies the pattern of home ownership of many minorities at the time, and is a direct result of fellow Riverside Japanese immigrant Jukichi Harada’s case against California’s discriminatory Alien Land Law of 1913, which prohibited aliens from owning land or property. It remained in Yoshi’s name until 1951, when the family sold the property.
vii

The precedent for property ownership by American-born children of Japanese immigrants was established by the Harada case. The case attracted wide attention because it was the first to test the constitutionality of an alien land law in California. In December 1915, Jukichi Harada purchased a home in Riverside in a middle-class neighborhood at 3356 Lemon Street. Because the Alien Land Law of 1913 prevented him from owning land, he purchased the land under his three minor American-born children’s names, Miné, Sumi, and Yoshizo. The Harada’s faced discrimination and hostility in their new neighborhood, but Jukichi refused to move. Many neighbors brought charges against the Harada family, claiming that under the laws of the United States Jukichi was an alien not eligible for citizenship and therefore it was illegal for him to own property in the state of California. On December 14, 1916, the case went to trial.

The People of the State of California v. Jukichi Harada, et al. Two years later, on September 17, 1918, Judge Hugh H.

Craig of the Riverside County Superior Court reached a judgment in favor of the Haradas. viii While he agreed that the
law did declare that aliens ineligible for citizenship could not own land, their children born in the United States, however, did have constitutional rights equal to those of any other citizens. This momentous event presented the possibility for many immigrants, including the Okubos, to establish their roots in America and build a more stable, thriving community.

While living at 2365 11
th Street, Miné attended Riverside Polytechnic High School and befriended the Harada’s youngest daughter, Sumi.ix Theirs was a friendship that lasted far into their elder years.x After high school, Miné attended Riverside Junior College (now Riverside Community College) from 1930-1933, focusing on art. She

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
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*Recorded by: Jenn Wilson *Date March 10, 2011 X Continuation Update

B10. Significance (cont.):

remained at 2365 11
th Street until she left to study art at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1933.xi She received her bachelor’s from UC Berkeley in 1935, and her Master’s in fine art in 1936. In 1938, UC Berkeley awarded Miné with a fellowship to study art in Europe for 18 months. World War II had already broken out upon her arrival back in the states. From 1939-1941, Miné was commissioned by the Federal Arts Program (part of the federal Works Projects Administration) as an artist to work on public art projects including painting, murals, mosaics and frescoes at Government Island, Oakland Hospitality House, Treasure Island and Fort Ord. During this time, she also worked for famed artist, Diego Rivera, in San
Francisco. As Rivera was painting murals, Okubo was below, explaining his work to visitors.xii

In 1942, Miné, along with her brother, Toku, who was residing with her in northern California while he attended the University of California Berkeley, were forced to evacuate her home under Executive Order 9066. Miné’s family, residing at 2365 11th Street, in Riverside, was also at internment camps, but was separated in various camps.xiii Miné was just one of 120,000 Japanese American evacuees incarcerated in America during World War II.xiv She and her brother were first at Tanforan Relocation Camp in San Bruno, California. Six months later, Toku and Miné were transferred to Topaz Relocation Center in Utah.
xv It was during this time that Miné sketched over 2,000 drawings of her experience in the camp.xvi

Miné Okubo’s sketches of her internment experience continued to attract attention, and eventually led to the publication of her book, Citizen 13660, in 1946
xviii. The book includes roughly 200 drawings along with Okubo's accompanying text. It was the first account by a WWII American Internee to show the experience of the internment camps. Miné’s work throughout her life gained her much recognition. She received the San Francisco Museum Annual Prize in 1948; taught art at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1950-1952; made an appearance in the televised program, The Nisei: The Pride and the Shame, Twentieth Century TV, CBS News with Walter Cronkite, in 1965; was selected by the California State Department of Education as one of twelve women pioneers in The History of California (1800 to present); received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for Art of the College Art Association, in 1991; had a play written about her life called "Miné: A Name for Herself”; and in 2006 Riverside Community College debuted Miné Okubo Drive on their campus. xix xx xxi

Before her internment, Miné thought of herself as being American first, and Japanese second.xxii She spoke little to no Japanese and knew little of her Japanese roots or traditions.xxiii However, her experience in the internment enforced the harsh reality of racial discrimination. Life would never be the same for Miné, nor was it for most Japanese and Japanese evacuees. Like many of those at internment camps, Miné never returned to her home in California. Her father, however, did return to the family home at 2365 11 th Street.xxiv Miné continued to work for various magazines in New York and began taking an interest in her Japanese ancestry. Most of her artwork after her internment was Japanese inspired, including the signature Japanese character, representing her name, which she stamped on many of her later works.

Miné Okubo died on February 10, 2001, at the age of 88, in Greenwich Village in New York City, New York. Although she spent the majority of her life in New York City, Miné held a special place in her heart for Riverside and was diligent about keeping in touch with friends and relatives in the area. In one of her many letters to her notable friend, Sumi Harada, Miné mentioned that she considered Riverside as her “beginning.” xxv In her book, Miné Okubo: an
American Experience, she also noted on the significance that her experience Riverside had on her, saying, “I have a very strong attachment to Riverside and my early life there.”xxvi

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary#
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION H R I #
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial

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*Recorded by: Jenn Wilson *Date March 10, 2011 X Continuation Update

B10. Significance (cont.):

Just as significant as Riverside was to contributing to Miné Okubo’s legacy, so too is Miné Okubo significant to Riverside’s. Her family’s acquisition of the property at 2365 11th Street under the name of their American-born daughter, their internment, and the national success of Miné’s first-hand account of being interned all exemplify the Japanese experience in America at this time.

The property retains much of its architectural integrity, and clearly contributes to an understanding of contextual significance of the Japanese experience in Riverside during World War II. Thus, the property is determined eligible for local listing, under Criterion A, for its association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

i Nealon, Sean, The Press Enterprise Website, “Materials left by late artist provide look into Japanese-American experience,” http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_okubo15.430182c.html. ii 1910 Census.
iii 1920 Census.
iv Nealon.
v 1930 Census.
vi Riverside County Assessor’s records.
vii Riverside County Assessor’s records.
viii Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Mine Okubo collection, “About the Harada House,” http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/harada.asp.
ix Okubo, Mine and Shirley Sun Okubo, Mine Okubo: an American Experience, Publisher: Museum (1972), found at Riverside Metropolitan Museum archives, Mine Okubo collection. x Collection of letters from Mine to Sumi at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. xi Okubo.
xii University of Minnesota Website, Voices From the Gap, “Mine Okubo,” http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/okuboMine.php.
xiii Okubo.
xiv Riverside Community College, “Mine Okubo Collection, http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/okubo/. xv Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Mine Okubo collection, Printout from website ,website address:
“content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft996nb5q61/?NaANN=13030&docID=ft996nb5q6&brand=oac.” Website currently not found online.
xvi Nealon.
xvii Okubo.
xviii Niiya, Brian Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present, Checkmark Books; Updated edition (December 2000) p. 274.
xix Okubo.
xx Nealon.
xxi Riverside Community College, “Mine Okubo Collection”, http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/okubo/. xxii Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Mine Okubo collection, Pamphlet on Mine Okubo from Riverside Community College, 18 Jun 1974.
xxiii Okubo.
xxiv Assessor’s records 1931-1951.
xxv Okubo, Miné, personal letter to Sumi Harada, 1983, Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Miné Okubo collection. xxvi Okubo.

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th Street
*Recorded by: Jenn Wilson *Date March 10, 2011 X Continuation Update

B12. References:

Japanese American National Museum
Japanese City Directories (1930-1962)

McAlester, Virginia and Lee. 2000. A Field Guide to American Houses. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: New York.

Nealon, Sean, The Press Enterprise Website, “Materials left by late artist provide look into Japanese-American experience,” http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_okubo15.430182c.html, accessed February 2, 2011.

Niiya, Brian Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present, Checkmark Books; Updated edition (December 2000)

Riverside, City of
Assessor’s maps (1895-1956)
Building permits
Census records (1890-1950)
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps (1895, 1908, 1952)

Riverside, County of
Assessor’s records (1895-1956)
Assessor’s maps

Riverside Community College, “Mine Okubo Collection”, http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/okubo/, accessed February 10, 2011.

Riverside Metropolitan Museum
Collection of letters from Mine  to Sumi at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum.

Okubo, Miné and Shirley Sun Okubo, Mine Okubo: an American Experience, Publisher: Museum; 1972.

Printout, “About the Harada House,” http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/harada.asp.

Printout, “content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft996nb5q61/?NaANN=13030&docID=ft996nb5q6&brand=oac.” Riverside Community College, “Miné Okubo Collection, http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/okubo/.

Pamphlet on Mine Okubo from Riverside Community College, 18 Jun 1974.

University of Minnesota Website, Voices From the Gap, “Miné Okubo,” http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/okuboMine.php, accessed January 30, 2011.