Finding Aid for the Hyung-ju Ahn Collection of Korean Materials, 1902-1959
Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
© 2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid for the Hyung-ju Ahn Collection of Korean Materials, 1902-1959
Collection number: 368
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Los Angeles, CA
- Processed by:
- Hyung-ju Ahn and Eiichiro Azuma
- Encoded by:
- Caroline Cubé
- Online finding aid edited by:
-
- Josh Fiala, September 2004
- Caroline Cubé, August 2006
© 2004 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Hyung-ju Ahn Collection of Korean Materials,
Date (inclusive): 1902-1959
Collection number: 368
Creator:
Ahn, Hyung-ju
Extent: 10 boxes (5 linear ft.)
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Hyung-ju (also known as Henry) Ahn graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1964, worked as a computer systems analyst for aerospace companies and for Orange County, California (1965-95), and received
his MA in history from California State University, Fullerton. He wrote his thesis on Korean interpreters at Japanese-American
internment camps during World War II. The collection contains mostly Korean printed materials, including religion and history
books, and textbooks published under Japanese occupation. Also contains an original documentary motion picture film, Mugunghwa
Tongsan (Hibiscus Garden), about the Korean community in Hawaii from 1900-47.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Hyung-ju Ahn, 1997.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Hyung-ju Ahn Collection of Korean Materials (Collection 368). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Hyung-ju (also known as Henry) Ahn was born in Seoul, Korea; attended Seoul National University for two years; came to Honolulu,
Hawaii in 1957 and then Reedley, California a few years later; graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at
the University of Pennsylvania in 1964; worked as a computer systems analyst for aerospace companies and for Orange County,
California from 1965-95; MA in history from California State University, Fullerton; wrote his thesis on Korean interpreters
at Japanese-American internment camps during World War II.
Biographical Narrative
Hyung-ju Ahn [Korean characters], or Henry Ahn, was born in Seoul and attended Seoul National University for two years. In 1957 he came to Honolulu where his
paternal grandfather, Reverend Chang-ho Ahn [Korean characters], had been a minister since 1926 at the Korean Methodist churches
in Wahiawa, Oahu and in Honolulu. A Couple of years later, he joined his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ho Kim
[Korean characters] in Reedley, California. Charles Ho Kim had come to the United States in 1914 and his wife came 35 years
later.
Hyung-ju Ahn graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. From 1965
to 1995, he worked as a computer systems analyst for aerospace companies and the County of Orange. He also earned a Master
of Arts degree in history from California State University, Fullerton. His second master's thesis was “the Korean Interpreters
at Japanese Alien Detention Centers During World War II.”
Beginning in 1987, Hyung-ju Ahn visited his relatives to interview and to collect Korean American primary source materials.
He interviewed his great-aunt in Detroit, whose late husband, C.C. Ahn [Korean characters], came to Honolulu in January 1903
on the first shipload of Korean to come to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. He also interviewed his grand-aunt in Hilo,
Hawaii, whose father was an elder brother of C.C. Ahn and had sailed with him to Hawaii. Hyung-ju visited many historic Korean
American sites and surveyed primary source materials including newsreels, home movies, documentary films, photographs, documents,
audio recordings, and unpublished manuscripts written both in Korean and English.
Scope and Content
Collection contains mostly Korean printed materials, including religion and history books, and textbooks published under Japanese
occupation. Includes 1902 passport, Korean Bible, fiction works, and a 1919 Korean Provisional Government savings bond issued
in 1919. Also contains an original documentary motion picture film, Mugunghwa Tongsan (Hibiscus Garden), about the Korean
community in Hawaii from 1900-47.
Expanded Scope and Content
The Hyung-ju Ahn Archival Collection consists of his great-uncle's passport issued to him by the Korean Imperial Government in 1902 to allow him to emigrate to
Hawaii; his great uncle's Korean Bible and Korean fiction works; textbooks published in Hawaii and the Mainland United States
for Korean language schools; textbooks published in Korea prior to 1910; a one-hundred dollar Korean Provisional Government
savings bond issued in 1919; textbooks published in Korea under Japanese rule, which were used at the Korean Central School
[Korean characters] in Honolulu in the 1920s; and the thirty-minute documentary film on the Korean American community in Hawaii
entitled “Mugunghwa tongsan” [[Korean characters] Hibiscus Garden], which was directed by his father in 1947.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Books and documents on Korean Independence Movement and Korean Immigrant History (Box 1).
- Books published under Korean imperial government (Box 2).
- Textbooks published under Japanese rule (Box 3).
- Books on religion (Box 4).
- General history books (Boxes 5-6).
- Chinese language books (Boxes 7-8).
- Miscellaneous books (Boxes 9-10).
- Film, Mugunghwa Tongsan (Hibiscus Garden), 1947 (Box 11).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Ahn, Hyung-ju--Archives.
Korea--Civilization--Archival resources.
Related Material
Books and Documents on Korean Independence Movement and Korean Immigrant History
Box 1, Folder 1
Korean Imperial Government Special Passport, 1903.
Box 1, Folder 1
Korean Provisional Government $100 Savings Bond Receipt, 1919.
Physical Description: (Copy).
Box 1, Folder 2
Pak Únsik [Korean characters],
“Hanguk t'ongsa” [Korean characters] Translated by Kim Pyóngsik [Korean characters]. Honolulu, 1917.
Box 1, Folder 3
Kim Yóngu [Korean characters],
“Toklip hyóljóngi” [Korean characters]. Honolulu, 1919.
Box 1, Folder 4
Pak Únsik [Korean characters],
“Hanguk toklip undong chi hyólsa” [Korean characters]. Shanghai, 1920 (In Chinese).
Box 1, Folder 5
Warren Y. Kim [Korean characters],
“Haebang chosón” [Korean characters]. Los Angeles, 1948.
Box 1, Folder 6
Textbooks of Economics, Biology, and Criminal Law, 1900s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Books Published Under Korean Imperial Government
Box 2, Folder 1
Korean History, 1900s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 2, Folder 2
Japanese History, 1900s.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 2, Folder 3
World History, 1900s.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 2, Folder 4
Geography, 1900s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 2, Folder 5
Korean Reader, 1900s.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 2, Folder 6
Miscellaneous Textbooks, 1900s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Textbooks Published Under Japanese Rule
Box 3, Folder 1
Korean Reader, 1920s-1930s.
Physical Description: (5 items).
Box 3, Folder 2
Chinese and Japanese Reader, 1909, 1937.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 3, Folder 3
Japanese History and Geography, 1930s
Physical Description: (3 items).
Note
(In Japanese).
Box 3, Folder 4
Bible, 1912.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 4, Folder 1
Christian Books, 1908, 1912.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 4, Folder 2
Christian Books, 1911.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 4, Folder 3
Christian Books, 1924, 1938.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 4, Folder 4
Bible, 1906.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 4, Folder 5
Miscellaneous Publications, ca. 1910s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 5, Folder 1
Biographies of Great Korean Historic Figures: “Wiinjón” [Korean characters], 1920s.
Physical Description: (4 items).
Box 5, Folder 2
“Wiinjón,” 1937.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 5, Folder 3
“Wiinjón,” 1948.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 6, Folder 1
“Wiinjón,” 1950s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 6, Folder 2
History of Wars in Korea, 1928.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 6, Folder 3
General Korean History.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 6, Folder 4
World Christian History, 1938.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 7, Folder 1
“Sohak” [Korean characters], 1928.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 7, Folder 2
“Taehak” [Korean characters], 1927
“Non-ó” [Korean characters], 1927
Box 7, Folder 3
Classical Poetry.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 7, Folder 4
Classical Poetry.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 8, Folder 1
Classical Writing.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 8, Folder 2
“Hunmin chóngÚm,” [Korean characters], Seoul, 1946, (Classical Reading).
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 8, Folder 3
Chinese-Korean Dictionary.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 9, Folder 1
Korean Language and Stories, 1910s-1920s.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 9, Folder 2
South Korean Elementary School Music Textbooks, 1969-1970.
Physical Description: (3 items).
Box 9, Folder 3
Miscellaneous Publications.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 9, Folder 4
Miscellaneous Publications.
Physical Description: (2 items).
Box 9, Folder 5
“Economic Report on Defeated Japan,” Unpublished English Material, ca. 1946.
Box 10
Chinese-Japanese Dictionary.
Physical Description: (1 item).
Box 11
“Mugunghwa tongsan,” [Korean characters] Hibiscus Garden, 1947.
Scope and Content Note
30-minute Documentary Film on a Korean Community in Hawaii.
