Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Inventory of the K.W. (Kyung Won) Lee Papers, 1972-1998
D-251
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: K.W. (Kyung Won) Lee Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1972-1998
Collection number: D-251
Creator:
Lee, K.W. (Kyung Won) 1928-
Extent:
10.4 linear feet
237 Digital Objects
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of
Special Collections.
100 North West Quad
Davis, California, 95616-5292
Abstract: Correspondence, court records, clippings and other background
materials relating to the Chol Soo Lee case (1973). Also contains office files,
artwork, and photographs relating to the publication of
Koreatown (1980-1983) and a bound volume of the paper (1979-1981).
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to
request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted
in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of Special Collections, General Library, University of
California, Davis 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
by the researcher.
[Identification of item], K.W. (Kyung Won) Lee Papers, D-251, Department of
Special Collections, University of California Library, Davis, California.
Donated by K.W. Lee.
Arranged and described by John Skarstad in December 2001.
K. W. Lee was born in Kaesong, Korea in 1928. He came to the United States as a
student in 1950 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from
West Virginia University in 1953. He continued his education at the University
of Illinois, Urbana, where he earned an MA in Journalism in 1955. In his first
professional job, Lee served as the City Hall reporter with the
Kingsport (Tenn.) Times-News from 1956 to 1957. He
became a staff reporter for the
Charleston (WV)
Gazette
from 1958 to 1970.
In 1970, K.W. Lee moved to Sacramento, California to become an investigative
reporter for the
Sacramento Union. For the next
two decades Lee's investigations included corruption in the Sacramento Housing
Authority, benefits given to legislators and other state officials, welfare
reform, the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant, poverty, and the prison system. His
reporting led to new legislation and numerous civic and political reforms. In
1977, he gained national recognition for his investigation into the wrongful
conviction of Chol Soo Lee. His articles sparked the first successful pan-Asian
political movement and ultimately led to Chol Soo Lee's retrial and full
acquittal. K.W. Lee retired from the
Sacramento
Union
in 1990.
In 1979, K.W. Lee founded the first national English-language Korean American
newspaper,
Koreatown, which lasted until 1982.
In 1990, at a time of rising tension between the African American and Korean
American communities in Los Angeles and other cities, he launched and edited the
Korea Times English Edition, based in Los
Angeles. He received the John Anson Ford Award, for print media, by the Los
Angeles County Human Relations Commission for his outstanding coverage of the
1992 Los Angeles riots and "for promoting racial harmony...through journalism
and community involvement." Though semi-retired, Lee continued to write for the
Korean American community as a columnist for the
Korea
Times
(English daily from 1995 to 1998 and Bi-lingual Edition from 2000
to 2001),
Currents: Asian Pacific American newspaper
serving Sacramento and Yolo Counties
(2000 to 2003), and the
KoreAm Journal (2002 to 2003).
K.W. Lee began teaching journalism while still in West Virginia at West Virginia
State College in 1969. He became a part-time journalism lecturer at California
State University, Sacramento from 1974 to 1979. In 1998, Lee taught
investigative writing at UC Davis. He taught investigative journalism at UCLA in
2000 and 2001, and in 2001 he taught investigative journalism at UC Santa
Barbara and interethnic studies at UC Riverside. And throughout his career, Lee
devoted countless hours to mentoring hundreds of Korean Americans.
Over the course of his career, K.W. Lee received numerous regional and national
awards for his work. These include the Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award from the
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (1982), the first Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Asian American Journalists Association (1987), and the Free
Spirit Award from the Freedom Forum (1994). In 1997, he was inducted into the
Newseum's News History Gallery.
Biography/Organization History
| 1928 | Born in Kaesong, Korea |
| 1946-1949 | Major in English Literature, Korea University, Seoul |
| 1950 | Came to USA |
| 1951-1955 | Editor, The Korean Messenger, an English language periodical for Korean students |
| 1953 | BS Journalism, West Virginia University, Morgantown |
| News Editor, The Daily Athenaeum, the WVU student newspaper | |
| Research Assistant, Institute of Communications, University of Illinois, Urbana | |
| 1955 | MS Journalism, University of Illinois, Urbana |
| 1956-1957 | City Hall Reporter, The Kingsport (Tenn.) Times-News |
| 1958-1970 | Staff Reporter, The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette |
| 1960 | Married, Peggy N. Flowers of Bluefield, VA |
| 1966-1967 | Mark Ethridge Fellowship, Ford Foundation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 1968 | Urban Service Award, U. S. Office of Economic Opportunity, for outstanding coverage of the poor. |
| 1969-1970 | Part-time journalism instructor, West Virginia State College |
| Institute faculty advisor to The Yellow Jacket, WVSC student newspaper | |
| 1970 | Investigative Reporter, Sacramento Union |
| Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for outstanding community service | |
| Editorial Citation, California Newspaper Publishers Association, Best Article or Best Series, for "Welfare Mess." | |
| 1971 | First Place, Enterprise Category, California-Nevada AP Writing Contest |
| Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for outstanding initiative and originality in reporting. | |
| 1972 | Second Place, Enterprise Category, California-Nevada AP Writing Contest |
| Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for outstanding initiative and originality in reporting | |
| Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for best spot news coverage | |
| Certificate of Merit, American Bar Association Gavel Award, for a series of investigative articles | |
| 1973 | Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for outstanding community service |
| Editorial Citation, California Newspaper Publishers Association, for community service | |
| 1974 | Part-time journalism lecturer, California State University, Sacramento |
| Faculty advisor to The State Hornet, CSUS student newspaper | |
| Ring of Truth Award, Copley Newspapers, for a series of investigative articles | |
| Special Merit Award, California Taxpayers Association, for a series of investigative articles entitled, "The Golden Dome." | |
| National Headliners Award, National Headliners Club, for outstanding news reporting | |
| 1976 | Editorial Citation, California Newspaper Publishers Association, for best series of articles |
| 1977 | Contacts Chol Soo Lee and begins working for his release. |
| 1978 | Mark Twain Sweepstakes Award, Associated Press News Executives Council (APNEC), for "The Americanization of Chol Soo Lee." |
| 1979 | Starts editing and publishing Koreatown. |
| Gavel Award, American Bar Association, for yearlong investigative series that resulted in the overturning of Chol Soo Lee's murder conviction. | |
| First Place, Best Series of Articles, California Newspaper Publishers Association's Better Newspaper Contest | |
| Honorable Mention, Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award, for investigative coverage of Chol Soo Lee case. | |
| 1981 | Top Honors, News Division, California State Fair, for his series, "People's Revolt Against Crime." |
| 1982 | Second place, investigative reporting, San Francisco Press Club Writing Contest |
| 1983 | Chol Soo Lee released. |
| National Headliners Award, National Headliners Club, for outstanding news reporting | |
| American Legion Fourth Estate Award | |
| Second Place, Writing Contest, California-Nevada Associated Press News Executive Council | |
| 1986 | Finalist, Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service, Scripps-Howard Foundation |
| 1987 | Lifetime Achievement Award, Asian American Journalists Association |
| 1990 | Editor, Korea Times English Edition |
| Retires from Sacramento Union | |
| 1992 | John Anson Ford Award, Los Angeles Human Relations Commission for journalistic efforts to promote racial harmony before, during, and after the 1992 LA Riots. |
| Retires from Korea Times English Edition | |
| Received liver transplant. | |
| 1993 | Investigative reporter/internship program coordinator, Sacramento Union |
| 1994 | Free Spirit Award, Freedom Forum |
| National Award for Outstanding Service, Association of Asian American Studies | |
| 1995 | Special projects consultant to KCRA-TV in Sacramento |
| Columnist, The Korea Times (English daily), Seoul | |
| 1997 | Inducted into the Journalism History Gallery of the Newseum in Arlington, VA. |
| 1998 | Retired from The Korea Times |
| 2000 | Columnist, Currents |
| Columnist, The Korea Times Bi-Lingual Edition, Los Angeles | |
| Retires from KCRA-TV | |
| 2001 | Columnist, KorAm Journal |
Scope and Content of Collection
These papers cover K. W. Lee's professional life from 1977 to 1983. They are limited
to his two main activities during those years: the Chol Soo Lee case and the
founding of the
Koreatown newspaper. There is also
a small series hinting at his larger career as an investigative reporter and teacher.
In the Chol Soo Lee case, the correspondence between K.W. Lee and Chol Soo Lee, the
newspaper coverage of the case (particularly the
Sacramento
Union
stories by K. W. Lee), and the court documents contain most of the
substance of the series. The interviews also warrant use though there are few. The
strength of the
Koreatown series lies in the
newspaper itself and in the files of story ideas. They focus on the Korean
immigrant/Korean American experience in California and the major Korean immigrant
centers around the United States.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Lee, K.W. (Kyung Won), 1928-
Lee, Chol Soo
Korean Americans--California--Politics
and government.
Korean American journalists.
Koran American literature--Periodicals.
Prisoners--California.