The Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim papers consist of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, notebooks, ephemera, and other material created by Young Tak Kim (1920-2004) and Annabelle Kim, née Lee (1921-2015) before and during their marriage. Young Tak and Annabelle met on New Year's Eve in 1937 and their correspondence began in early 1938. The collection includes close to 1000 letters written by both Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim. The bulk of the correspondence is dated between 1938 and 1945. All of the letters are written in English, with a few instances of Korean writing found within a small number of the letters. Young Tak Kim was born in Los Angeles to a family belonging to the Korean American Pioneer community. Annabelle Kim, born in northern California, moved to Los Angeles during World War II. The collection documents wartime Korean American youth cultures and organizations, the youth movement in Los Angeles in support of the Korean Independence Movement, and Korean Americans' involvement in agricultural work in Southern California and the Central Valley. The correspondence in the collection also mentions other prominent members of the Korean American Pioneer community, such as Philip Ahn.

Michelle (Shelley) Kim, the granddaughter of Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim and the donor of the collection, supplied the following biographical information.

7.9 Linear Feet 12 boxes

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