On the afternoon of Thursday, November 10, 2016, UCR Library celebrated the opening of a new exhibition, titled, “Orange Roots: The Remarkable Story of Two Trees, a Pioneer Town, and the University of California, Riverside.”

The reception featured a presentation by Riverside native and Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing Susan Straight, who shared a magical tale of her youth spent in the orange groves of Riverside, which to her young eyes appeared like an enchanted forest.

To add more zest to the experience, Tracy Kahn, UCR’s Givaudan Citrus Valley Collection Endowed Chair coordinated a citrus tasting station. Guests savored bites of about a dozen different types of citrus fruit grown at UC Riverside, ranging from sweet navel oranges to the more exotic, tart flavor of finger limes.

Special guests and community members attended the exhibition’s welcome reception, including Patricia Ortlieb, who is the great-great granddaughter of Riverside’s citrus pioneer Eliza Tibbets. Tibbets’ introduction of the Washington Navel in 1873 revolutionized the California citrus industry.

Along with fellow pioneers John W. North and Matthew Gage, Tibbets laid the foundation for Riverside’s rapid expansion and success in the citrus business, which created a need for a location research station to support the industry and help to protect crops from frost, pests and disease. In 1906, the University of California selected Riverside for the site for the Citrus Experiment Station, which established the city as the hub of the southern California citrus market.

Forty-eight years later, the University of California, Riverside campus was opened in 1954. The “Orange Roots” exhibition features photographs and other memorabilia that trace the origins of UC Riverside back to its beginnings in the early 20^th century.

The exhibition will remain on display until June 2017 on the first floor of Tomás Rivera Library.