The Great Depression, Riverside, and the Mission Inn

The Economic Boom of the 1920s Above: Mission Inn automobiles loaded with guests ready for a day excursion, 1923. Photo: Mission Inn Museum Collection

The Crash of 1929 Right: Crowds gather outside the New York Stock Exchange as news of the market crash spreads, October 1929. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

A Ripple Effect throughout America Above: Line of jobless men waiting for free food, circa 1930. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Right: Portrait of President Herbert Hoover, a guest of the Mission Inn, 1939. In 1929, President Hoover asked State Governors to carry out public works projects to help stabilize the climbing unemployment rate and crumbling economy. Artist: Bonnie Brown Painting: Mission Inn Collection

National unemployment statistics, 1922-1942. In 1933, unemployment peaked at a record 24.3% U N E M P L O Y T YEAR Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress and Left: First Edition of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, a fictional account of two “Okies” moving west to California during the Great Depression. Above: Author, John Steinbeck. Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress and A&E Biography.

Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress Above: Dorothea Lange self-portrait, 1934. Lange was known for her iconic photographs of dustbowl migrants during the Great Depression. Right: One of Dorothea Lange’s most well-known photos, a migrant mother and her children, taken in California, 1936. Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress

Above: Postcard of the Mission Inn, circa 1925. Postcard: Mission Inn Museum Collection

Below: Sketch of proposed Rotunda Internacionale Wing by Architect G. Stanley Wilson, May 1929. Image: Mission Inn Museum Collection

Right: Early construction on the Rotunda, early 1930. View is looking towards 6th Street from Main Street. Photo: Mission Inn Museum Collection

CITY TO OBTAIN WORK FOR MEN RIVERSIDE ENTERPRISE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1930 CITY TO OBTAIN WORK FOR MEN Plans to conduct an employment campaign for Riverside people who have been thrown out of work by depressed business conditions of 1930 were made at a meeting of representatives of welfare organizations with the building trades committee of the Riverside chamber of commerce yesterday afternoon… Every property owner who has an odd job of any sort, from cleaning up the back yard to working on a ranch or in an orange grove, will be asked to turn in the information at headquarters. In response to these listings of employment, the central agency will send out a local resident whom local investigation has shown worthy and badly in need of work. “A few hours of work at 50 cents an hour (about $7.00 in 2013) will not mean a great deal to most citizens of the city, but if a sufficient number of people cooperate in furnishing short jobs, it will tide over many permanent residents now unemployed,” [said] Duff Hansen, chairman of the chamber of commerce. *Transcription of article. Original is available on microfilm through the Riverside Public Library Local History Collection.

Letter: Mission Inn Museum Collection Right: Mission Inn owner Frank A. Miller’s Christmas Eve letter to his employees, regarding the economic downturn and poor business. By December, 1930, the effects of the Great Depression were being felt by many businesses across America. National unemployment was near 15% when this letter was written. Letter: Mission Inn Museum Collection

Photos: Mission Inn Museum Collection The Rotunda Construction Project kept numerous Riverside residents employed during the first years of the Great Depression. Despite dwindling business, Frank Miller hoped his major addition would prove a valuable long-term investment. Photos: Mission Inn Museum Collection

Photos: Mission Inn Museum Collection The Rotunda wing was completed in 1931, but despite Miller’s efforts, business at the Mission Inn never completely recovered. However, Riverside fared better than most of the United States – not a single Riverside bank failed during the Great Depression. Photos: Mission Inn Museum Collection

Looking North over the Mission Inn and Riverside, circa 1935. Photo: Mission Inn Museum Collection