UC Riverside (UCR) announced on the 13th that its affiliated Kim Young-ok Research Institute (Director Jang Tae-han) will hold a tour exhibition to promote Pachappa Camp and local Korean history with $850,000 in support from the Melon Foundation. In Riverside, the construction of the American Dosan Memorial Hall is also underway.
Kim Young-ok, who held a mini-tour exhibition under the theme of “Pachappa Camp: America’s First Korean Town” for three months from October 2021, will visit San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago from the second half of next year to showcase the immigration history of Koreans living in Pachappa Camps as well as other regions to the public through photos and supplies.
There will also be an online exhibition.
Pachappa Camp is the name of a community of Korean migrant workers who worked on orange farms near Riverside East Side on 14th and Commercial St. in 1904.
The in-person tour will be held with Korean community groups from each region, and will also collaborate with Asian-American and civil rights consortiums in Riverside, including the Save Hour Chinatown Committee, Harada House Foundation, the American Dosan Ahn Chang-ho Memorial Project, and the Southern California Institute for Civil Rights.
Kim Young-ok Research Institute will also donate $200,000 of funds to Korean community organizations where the exhibition will be held, each of which will be $50,000.
The Melon Foundation was established in 1969 as a private foundation that supports social, scientific, and humanities fields such as arts, humanities, higher education, and culture. It mainly supports museum and library programs, research programs on social justice issues, and cultural heritage preservation and digitization programs. This is the first time the Melon Foundation has provided support for the preservation and promotion of Korean immigration history.
Director Jang Tae-han said, “We will be able to officially introduce Pachappa Camp and local Korean immigration history to the public for the first time through tour exhibitions,” adding, “This is a great celebration not only for UC Riverside and Kim Young-ok, but to the whole Korean community. It will be a huge milestone in preserving and promoting the Pachappa Camp and Korean immigration history.”
He added, “We were able to receive the funds partly due to the public’s changing perception of Asian culture as hate crimes targeting Asians increase,” adding, “We will take this opportunity to promote Korean history to the mainstream in more various ways.”
“Dr. Jang Tae-han’s study of Korean society will raise historical value,” said Darrell Williams, dean of UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “We will provide opportunities to connect, grow and learn the local community through touring exhibitions,” he explained.
BY NICOLE CHANG [chang.nicole@koreadaily.com]
