Payroll and employment records at the Mission Inn reflect a diverse ethnic mix of employees. Riverside had a long history of employing those from other countries. The expertise of the Chinese from the citrus growing Guangdong Province assured the success of Riverside’s citrus industry. Among those who worked at the Inn were immigrants from China, Mexico, Europe, the Philippines and Japan. More

Frank Miller made an impact on his Japanese friends. In 1929, Japanese Emperor Hirohito honored the hotel owner. It was an important event at the Mission Inn. The Japanese Counsel and Vice Counsel from Los Angeles made the presentation of the Order of the Rising Sun (4 th Class) on behalf of the Emperor. More

Music was an important part of the social life of the Mission Inn. The music of the missions, of Mexico and of Spain, was often heard within the walls of the Mission Inn. Musicians dressed in costumes representing the early history of California sang and played guitar, lute, violin, accordion, and other instruments. The musicians often performed at the balconies above the Spanish Patio. One well-known musician was Jose Arias. More

A year after industrialist Andrew Carnegie established the Endowment for International Peace, Riverside was host to the Conference for Peace and Arbitration. Among those attending were naturalist John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt’s Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks and Frank Miller’s good friend, former Stanford University President David Starr Jordan. More

Miller had a tremendous interest in the objects created by Native Americans. Two rooms in the hotel’s basement were built to display their artwork. The Kiva and Hogan held basketry, rugs, rugs, pottery, and a variety of other objects. For sale in the Cloister Gift Shop was Native American artwork. The artwork was not exclusive to the California Mission Indians. More

Throughout Frank Miller’s hotel is the religious symbolism of the California Missions. Mr. Miller filled the hotel with Christian related objects, including paintings of the Madonna and Child and other similar items. Statues and pieces of sculpture, including a life size figure of a Catholic pope made of wax, paper and wood, were part of his vast collection.. More

Frank Miller had an extraordinary talent for making friends; friends from all cultures. In 1925, Miller and his wife, Marion, daughter Allis and husband, DeWitt Hutchings, and his sister, Alice Richardson, traveled to Asia (Klotz). On the six month trip they visited Japan, China, Hawaii, and the Philippines. Following their return, areas were added to the hotel to display many of the Asian objects they purchased. More

The display of flags from throughout the world is a long-standing tradition at the Mission Inn. Historic photographs of the Cloister Music Room and the Spanish Art Gallery show flags along the rooms’ walls. Like the grand, baroque castles of Europe, Frank Miller decorated the spaces with art, armor, tapestries, banners, and, the flags. More

Master of the Inn Frank Miller was a “citizen of the world.” He embraced many cultures. The Mission Inn reflected this international flavor, a flavor of acceptance. He chose to evoke the romance of the Mission Era in his early 20 th century vision of California’s history. One overriding symbol was the bells. More

Collecting objects was a multi-generational avocation at the Mission Inn. Frank Miller’s granddaughters, Isabella Hutchings and Helen Hutchings, amassed a collection of several hundred dolls and animals. Represented are dolls from countries and regions of Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia Minor and Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the United States. More