Ho Young Ham was born in Seoul, Korea on May 5, 1868 and immigrated to Hawaii in 1905 with his wife, Hannah Chur Ham (1882-1979). The Ho Young Ham papers consist of artifacts, audio recordings, books, clothing, correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed material that document Mr. Ham and his family, his professional life as a sugar plantation employee and Korean Methodist Church minister, and his involvement in Korean nationalist activities.

Ho Young Ham was born in Seoul, Korea on May 5, 1868 and immigrated to Hawaii in 1905 with his wife, Hannah Chur Ham (1882-1979). Upon arriving in the Territory of Hawaii he began work for the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company; he retired in 1949 after 44 years of service. Mr. Ham was active in the Korean National Association and the Korean Benevolent Society, but a major focus of his life was his role as a lay minister for the Korean Methodist Church in Sprecklesville, Maui, territory of Hawaii. The Ham family included ten children. Ham daughters included: Suney Ham Ow, Clara Ham Cabrinha, Mary Ham Hyum, Salome Ham Ambrose, Dora Ham Kim, and Elizabeth Ham Rosen. The Ham's four sons included: Norman Ham (1910-1950), John Ham, Paul Ham, and Simon Ham. Other prominent family members included Mr. Tai Young Hahm (1872-1964), vice president of the Republic of Korea under president Syngman Rhee (1875-1965), and first cousin to Mr. Ho Young Ham, and Mr. Pyong-choon Hahm (1932-1983), son of Tai Young Hahm, an influential legal scholar, Korean ambassador to the United States, and former national security adviser to the President of the Republic of Korea. Mr. Ham died in March 1954 in Maui.

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