Collection Guide
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Kim (Young Tak) and Annabelle Kim papers
3402
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Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries East Asian Library
Title: Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim papers
Creator:
Kim, Annabelle (1921-2015)
Creator:
Kim, Young Tak (1920-2004)
Identifier/Call Number: 3402
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/6/resources/3423
Physical Description:
7.9 Linear Feet
12 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1938-1985
Language of Material:
English
, Korean
.
Michelle (Shelley) Kim, the granddaughter of Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim and the donor of the collection, supplied the
following biographical information.
Young Tak Kim was the second oldest of six children born to Robert and Haeran Kim. He was born in Los Angeles, and his family
is part of the Korean American Pioneer community. Young Tak's sisters were Gloria (Ronyoung) Han and Annie Kim Kido. His brothers
were Kim Hongtak (also known as Hong Tak McCune), Jack Kim, and Robert (Bobby) Kim. Jack's Korean name was Kyung Tak and Robert's
was Sung Tak, but they rarely went by their Korean names. Young Tak was born around February 21, 1920 and died January 10th,
2004. As a child, Young Tak traveled to Korea (the family was from what is now North Korea) for school, but stayed in the
United States permanently, partly due to political reasons relating to the Japanese occupation of Korea. Young Tak spoke Korean,
Japanese, and English, but he rarely spoke anything but English with his children and grandchildren. Young Tak grew up in
Los Angeles and later spent time living in Reedley and then Fresno during the 1950s. He served in the United States Navy as
a radio tech. Young Tak and his brother Hongtak owned a television and radio service shop. Young Tak also worked for the city
of Fresno before retiring.
Anna Lee, later Annabelle Kim, was born around February 7, 1921 and died in January of 2015. Annabelle's early biographical
details are less certain than Young Tak's. Annabelle was born in California, possibly in Oakland. Her parents were Reverend
O.H. (Oak Hyung?) Lee and Esther Lee. Annabelle had 2 siblings: Henry (known as Hank) and Mary. When Annabelle's parents divorced,
her father took Hank and her mother took Mary and Annabelle. Mary and Annabelle ended up in an orphanage in Oakland for a
number of years, then moved to Sacramento. During World War II, Annabelle moved to the Los Angeles area. Annabelle met Young
Tak when she was living in Sacramento and Young Tak was living in Los Angeles. Annabelle graduated from junior college in
Sacramento and worked as a homemaker for most of her life.
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.
Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of the East
Asian Library at eal@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the East Asian Library as the owner of the
physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Michelle (Shelley) Kim, July 27, 2023.
Related archival collections at the USC Libraries:
- Ronyoung Kim and Richard Hahn papers, Collection no. 3010, Korean Heritage Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
- Philip Ahn papers, Collection no. 3007, Korean Heritage Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
- Korean American Pioneer Council records, Collection no. 3321, Korean Heritage Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
[Box/folder# or Item name], Young Tak Kim and Annabelle Kim papers, Collection no. 3402, Korean Heritage Library, East Asian
Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Korean American families -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Korean American soldiers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Korean Americans -- California -- Fresno -- Archival resources
Korean Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Korean Americans -- Political activity -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Correspondence
Daybooks
Ephemera
Moving images
Negatives (photographic)
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks
Personal correspondence
Photographs
Kim, Annabelle (1921-2015) -- Archives
Kim, Young Tak (1920-2004) -- Archives