Finding Korean American history in the Pacific Northwest

The story of “Han in the Pacific Northwest” has been in the making for 30 years. Since the founding of the Korean American Historical Society (KAHS) by Daeshik Yu in 1985, while he was in the Department of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington, a primary goal has been to publish a history of Korean Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to that, the only material available was a master’s thesis by Kyung Sook Cho Gregor on the Koreans in Gresham, Oregon in 1963; a UW master’s thesis by Chul Soo Lee case volunteer and later Korean National Assembly member Jay Kun Yoo, titled “The Koreans in Seattle,” in 1976; and a study of the problems of wives of U.S. servicemen by Sil Dong Kim in 1979 as part of the Demonstration Project for Asian Americans (DPAA). In addition to giving impetus for the formation of KAHS, this project also was the basis for the formation of Filipino American National Historical Society (FAHNS).