Situated on the campus of CSU Long Beach, our 1.3 acre Hill and Pond Japanese-style garden was built through a generous donation from Mrs. Loraine Miller Collins in honor of her late husband Earl Burns Miller. Following three years of planning, and in collaboration with the University, Mrs. Miller Collins selected University master plan landscape architect and longtime friend Edward R. Lovell, ASLA to create its design. Construction began in the summer of 1980 and it was dedicated in the spring of 1981.
Founded as an educational resource for the campus and community, the garden advances the university's ongoing interest in international education and student engagement. It serves as an outdoor classroom setting for the visual arts and sciences, as well as a site for student mentoring and peer-to-peer relationships through internships and docent positions.
The garden is a hybrid art form that combines typical elements of Japanese garden design within the context of its Southern California location, and the vision of its founder. Earl and Loraine Miller shared a passion for the outdoors, and gardening in particular. Their belief in the importance of education to self development and their health and wellness-centered philanthropy continues through the CSULB International House, the EBM Japanese Garden, Miller Children's Hospital and other projects supported by the Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation.