Contact Information
Ken Klein
kklein@usc.edu
(213) 740 1772
Location
EDL Digital Collection
Korean-American Digital Archive
Overview
The documentary record of the Korean experience in America remains dispersed and difficult to access. The Korean-American Digital Archive brings more than 13,000 pages of documents, more than 1,900 photographs and about 180 sound files together in one searchable collection. The collection documents the Korean-American community during the period of resistance to Japanese rule in Korea, and reveals the organizational and private experience of Koreans in America between 1903 and 1965. The components of the Korean American Digital Archive include:
DOCUMENTS OF THE KNA BUILDING
The Korean National Association building, dedicated in Los Angeles in 1938, served as the headquarters for several Korean organizations. Among these were the Korean National Association (Kungminhoe) itself, the United Korean Committee in America, the Korean Chamber of Commerce in America, the Korea Relief Society, and the newspaper Sinhan Minbo (New Korea). The images in this collection are of the records that have remained in the KNA building to the present day and document many of the major events of the first 60 years of Koreans in America. See the KNA page for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
THE REVEREND SOON HYUN COLLECTED WORKS
Soon Hyun was a Methodist minister who served in both Hawaii and in Seoul, Korea. He was a key participant in the March First Movement in 1919 and later served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States from the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai. The papers in this collection document Reverend Hyun's life and career until his death in Los Angeles in 1968. See the collection overview for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
KOREAN-AMERICAN PRIVATE RECORDS
Many historically important records remain in private hands. This section of the database contains a variety of small but significant sets of documents. See the private records page for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
KOREAN-AMERICAN ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPH SET
This is the primary repository in the KADA database of the visual record of the Korean community. See the archive photograph set page for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
KOREAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM ORAL HISTORY SERIES
The Korean American Museum in Los Angeles conducted a series of oral-history interviews with longtime members of the Korean community. The actual sound recordings of these interviews are included in this section of the database and can be downloaded as mp3 files for listening. See the archive photograph set page for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
THE KOREAN HERITAGE LIBRARY FILES
The Korean Heritage Library has actively sought documents on a selected number of specific Korean American issues. Some of these are made available in this section of the database. See the library files page for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection.
For more information, visit the collections overview.