Asian Studies

• Korean American Digital Archive - Oral Histories by KADA KADA's oral history collections include interviews from several sources. They provide more than 25,000 resources of images, videos, audio and etc. The sound recordings of these interviews are included in this section of the database and can be listen to and there are, as well, transcriptions available for some; including Korean American Museum Oral History Series, Hahn Family series, Hyun Family series, Irvin Paik series, Sonia Shinn Sunoo series. Conducted by University of Southern California.
• Korean Americans in Los Angeles after 1965 by UCLA This series documents full-life histories of a number of prominent Korean Americans who represent their community’s tremendous expansion during the period after federal anti-Asian immigration laws were repealed in 1965, the series focuses on the remarkable growth of the Korean American community in Los Angeles; that community’s impact on the history, economy, and culture of the city; and the development and evolution of Koreatown, the only such officially designated community in any city in the world. While concentrating largely on Korean immigrants who are part of the so-called 1.5 generation, or immigrants who relocated to the United States from South Korea while still relatively young, the series also includes influential members of the L.A. area’s Korean community who are first- and second-generation Korean Americans. These 15 interview records bring his or her unique perspective to bear on the story of two cultures, a story which continues to make an indelible and important imprint on the city of Los Angeles and its diverse citizens.
• YOK Center's Korean American Oral Histories Project The Young Oak Kim Center's Korean American Oral Histories Project at the University of California, Riverside is an ongoing collection of stories via video and audio. Subjects include Korean Americans from all walks of life: from academics, professionals, undocumented students, to business owners talking about their experiences coming to America, stories of their family's endeavors, early childhood, and how they came to be in the position they are today. The Center hopes to also study the impact of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots on the Korean American identity.
• Legacy Project : My Korean American Story The Legacy Project is an oral history project of KoreanAmericanStory.org. The concept of the Legacy Project is to provide the Korean American community an easy turnkey process to capture the stories of individuals and families through video recordings. The Legacy Project was our first effort to document the stories from the first-generation Korean Americans who immigrated during the 1970’s and 1980’s. With an investment of less than one hour, the Legacy Project will allow families to do something they have always been meaning to do, but have never done – to record the stories of their parents, grandparents, relatives or just another loved one. KoreanAmericanStory.org has made recordings in other cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Boston. Our goal is to continue to expand the recording to other major cities where there is a high density of Korean Americans.
• Oral history interviews of the Korean Community Oral History Project The Korean Community Oral History Project is part of a larger Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. The project was a partnership between the Minnesota Historical Society and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Korean Minnesotans speak about their experiences coming to or being born in Minnesota. The narrators discuss their personal stories of living in Korea and Minnesota. These two interview records cover a wide range of experiences shared by Korean Minnesotans. Interviewed by Insung Oh, Jan 2011.
• Korean American Women’s History Project by KAWSP KOWIN Chicago Chapter has embarked on the Korean American Women’s Story Project (“KAWSP”) to document the lives of Korean American women in Illinois by conducting an oral history project. KOWIN Chicago chapter has already produced two video documentaries of Korean American women’s immigrant lives in Illinois to preserve oral stories of selected Korean American women in 2009. They wanted to share the stories of early Korean women immigrants from the 60’s to 70’s with the hope of raising awareness of their struggles to survive and contribute to the American economy, but ultimately, to instill Korean American pride and create a deeper appreciation for Asian family values and culture.
• Korean American Historical Society Founded in 1985, Korean American Historical Society (KAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the collective memory of Korean Americans through collecting, maintaining, and transmitting the heritage and achievements of Koreans living in the United States and abroad. KAHS provides video and transcriptions of interviews recorded from 1981 to 1986.
• Missing Pieces by KAYLT In 2013, teaming up with accomplished and dedicated individuals from the Divided Families National Coalition and other community leaders, Missing Pieces focuses on not only archiving the stories of divided family members, but also issuing petitions in order to pressure the government to act more decisively on the issue. The Missing Pieces Project strives to raise awareness of the imminent issue of divided families in the Korean American community. By using mediums of collective memoirs and informative documentatives, they seek the interest of the American government to better the process of allowing the reuniting of affected families. This archive contains videos and transcripts of interviews with 10 divided families living in the United States.
• Shades of L.A. Oral Histories by LA Public Library In 1991, Photo Friends and the Los Angeles Public Library sponsored the project “Shades of L.A.: A Search for Visual Ethnic History.” The six-year project involved copying thousands of family photographs throughout Los Angeles, thereby broadening the LAPL Photo Collection’s representation of ethnicities within the city. Oral History Interview of Susan Ahn Cuddy (Korean American) is available as audio format and transcription summary.
• Legacies of the Korean War In the United States, the Korean War, known as the “forgotten war,” more often than not is commemorated as a matter of national security between this country and South Korea. Korean American war survivors are now in their eighties and nineties, and the time is ripe to foreground their memories as vital to both the historical record and community reflection. Not just a geopolitical reality but an ongoing tragedy, the war’s irresolution has been borne out in the lives of aging Koreans in the diaspora, many of whom witnessed the ruin of their hometowns, were separated from their loved ones, were orphaned, were pressed into military service, and have longed for decades to be reunited with family in North Korea. For many years, memory of these experiences was suppressed, pushed to the margins of official Korean War histories and silenced within Korean American communities fractured by Cold War divisions. But as survivors age and pass away and second- and third-generation Korean Americans seek to understand their historical origins, these often-painful memories stand as testaments not only to the generational trauma of war, but also to the strength and heart of the Korean American community. This archive seeks to honor and to give voice to these memories and the hopes of the Korean American community for peace and reunification in Korea. The archive contains recordings of 22 interviews and was conducted by Christine Hong and 5 other scholars, writers and a film maker.
• Made Into America: Immigrant Stories Archive There are 4 stories about Korean immigrant. This archive aims to present and share stories related to immigration that build bridges of interest, empathy and commonality among Silicon Valley residents and to compile, present and share stories related to immigration that generate a positive understanding of the ways that immigrants build the strength and vitality of the U.S. and the Silicon Valley area in particular. (4 Korean records as edited stories)
• Immigrant Voices by Immigration Station Foundation A growing archive of personal stories of immigrants to the Pacific Coast. Sort by nationality, year of arrive, theme. 4 Korean records as edited stories. Currently not available for redesigning.
• San Francisco Korean American Museum The SF Korean American Museum (SFKAM) is the result of grassroots efforts to establish an archive that will eventually collect and house all available items that relate to Korean immigrants experience in and around San Francisco and the Bay Area. Its objective is not only to collect and preserve the immigrants artifacts but also to mediate the cultural exchanges between Korea and the Unites States through our work as well as mediating the past to the future life of Korean Americans. By recording the oral histories, they hope not only to archive the lives of the trailblazing early immigrants but also relate the history of Korean-American immigration – a story that is still in progress – into a dialogue between the past and present. The recorded interviews will be edited, stored in the historical record, and made available to the public through the Museum’s website.
• The National Archives at San Francisco by NARA The National Archives at San Francisco has over 400,000 immigration case files documenting the immigration and naturalization of individuals from the 1880s to the 1970s - mostly immigrants from Asia. The holdings include at least 400 immigration case files for immigrants from Korea prior to World War II. These files typically contain affidavits, visas, transcripts of hearings, and correspondence. About 400 records(affidavits, visas, transcripts of hearings, and correspondence)
• Center for Oral History by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The Center for Oral History (COH), Social Science Research Institute, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, was established in 1976 by the Hawai‘i State Legislature. COH preserves the recollections of Hawai‘i’s people through oral interviews and disseminates oral history transcripts to researchers, students, and the general community. COH also develops books, articles, catalogs, brochures, photo displays, and videotapes based on oral histories, serves as a resource center for oral history materials, and trains groups and individuals in oral history research. There are 8 Korean American related oral history transcriptions.
• Korean Americans and the “Forgotten War” by Still Present Pasts STILL PRESENT PASTS embodies life stories from the Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project, directed by Ramsay Liem, professor of psychology at Boston College. Motivated by the personal quest of several younger Korean Americans to acquire a deeper understanding of their families' experiences during the Korean War, the project currently has three dozen oral histories from three generations of Korean Americans living in the Greater Boston and San Francisco Bay areas. These narratives are among the first public remembrances by Korean Americans of the devastation of this horrific civil and international conflict. They also reveal multiple legacies of the war that influence individual, family, and community life, to this day. These oral histories provide a counterpoint to the invisibility of the Korean War in public consciousness and the U.S. historical record.
• Bojagi, Oral Histories, and the Korean American War by Wellesley College Using Tascam audio recorders, telephone mics, Skype, and Google Hangout, students recorded oral histories from U.S. Veterans of the Korean War, Korean War civilian survivors, and Korean American adoptees. Once they collected the histories, students used these rich primary sources, relevant course materials, and keywords to write an analysis of the oral histories, helping their readers follow the threads through the greater fabric. They linked the digital knowledge with the physical world using culturally significant objects called bojagi. Each bojagi was labeled with a tag identifying and sharing biographical information about the storyteller as well as a QR code. Reading the QR code with a mobile device brings the viewer to a Google Site page where s/he could listen to the oral history, view maps, and read the student’s analysis. The bojagi were displayed in the academic quad in November 2015 and in various academic buildings in spring 2016.

• Korean American Oral History Project 1961~2003 Dr. Luke Kim served as Professor of Psychiatry at the UC Davis School of Medicine. His wife, Grace, served as a teacher at Davis Senior High School. The Kims together with KW Lee, a journalist, formed the Korean American Oral History Project. Correspondence between KW Lee and Luke Kim as well as mounted photographs, poster boards, and captions, regarding Korean Americans. This collection is open to researchers. Researchers have to visit UC Davis Library in person to use.
• Korean and Korean American Studies in UCLA Library special collection An archive of Korean and Korean-American studies materials from the UCLA Libraries Special Collections. The collection covers a wide range of time periods from the 1800s to the 2000s. If interested in using it, please make a request to the UCLA Library.
• Korean-American Oral History Project 1970~1979 by UCLA AASC The Korean-American Oral History Project at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center was founded to develop oral history source materials on Korean American history during the 1903-45 period, and to facilitate their use by researchers. Its goals are to collect individual memories of people and events, to develop an indexing project for the collection and to establish a permanent depository of these records at UCLA. Collection consists of 31 cassette tape recordings of interviews with Korean immigrants to the United States. The tape-recorded oral histories of Korean American immigrants to the United States made by Sonia Shinn Sunoo form a part of that project.
• Korean American National Museum The Korean American National Museum's mission is to preserve and interpret the history, experiences, culture and achievements of Americans of Korean ancestry.
• Korean Diaspora Collection by UC Berkeley Library This collection is written by ethnic Koreans over the world, from those who are living in Yanbian in China, Vladivostok in Russia, to those who are living in Central Asia. These Korean Diaspora societies have been rapidly fragmenting and decreasing in population, as being incorporated by nearby countries. In this respect, this collection has exceptional meaning as it captures and preserves the field of culture, language, and history of Korean Diaspora. Also, in medium and long-term vision, this has special value to have information about diminishing Korean Diaspora.

• Korean Kaleidoscope: Oral Histories, V.1 Early Korean Pioneers in USA: 1903-1905 by Sonia Shinn Sunoo

  Publication Date: 1982

  This is a comprehensive study detailing the history of Korean immigrants in America. It claims to be “the first oral history of the early Korean immigrants in America” and relies on taped oral interviews with the immigrants...
• Voices of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Experience, V.2, Part 14 by Sang Chi, Emily Moberg Robinson

  Call Number: Electronic resource

  Publication Date: 2012

  This work presents contemporary and historical views on Asian America and Pacific Islanders, conveyed through the voices of the men and women who lived these experiences over more than 150 years.
• Koreans in North America : their twenty-first century experiences by Min, Pyong Gap

  Call Number: Langson Library ; E184.K6 K6553 2013

  Publication Date: 2013

  A Four-Decade Literature on Korean Americans: A Review and Comprehensive Bibliography