History and Accomplishments
Scholarly research, oral history, video production, preservation of artifacts, monument construction, publications and seminar/conferences account for much of CCKHS accomplishments and activities.
A paper, The First Korea Towns on the Mainland, U.S.A: Reedley and Dinuba, California, delivered at the Centennial Commemorative Conference on the U.S. Korean Immigration, Fairview Mariott Hotel, Falls Church, Va., August 16-18, 2002.
Conference Proceedings, Jung Ga Ju Hanin Yeok Sa Ui Jae Jo Myeong, (Another Look at Central California Immigrant History), held in Kaya Buffet Conference Hall, Fresno, California, January 31, 2003.
Memorial Service in honor of Central California Reedley and Dinuba Korean Heritage, held in Reedley Opera House, Reedley, California, March 13, 2004.
Oral history: an archivist conducted interviews with 40 descendants of the first generation immigrants. Tapes are stored with CCKHS Special Collections.
Video productions: A Tale of Two Cities: Reedley and Dinuba Korean Heritage, and Fruits of Labor: California Korean Farm Laborers. Videos are available to the public at cost.
Silent motion picture screening: Dinuba Koreans city parade scene in celebration of the first anniversary of the Korean Independence Day, March 1, 1920.
Three monuments: unveiled on April 12, 2008. One is a memorial plaque mounted on the entry side wall of the Hotel Burgess in Reedley. This plaque (1×2) is in memory of two Korean patriots stay in the Hotel Burgess, South Koreans founding president, Syngman Rhee, and the Korean visionary, moralist and patriot, Ahn Chang-ho. Their portrait pictures are also hung in the Hotel Burgess second floor.
Cross-shaped granite monument (5×7) was erected at the intersection of Alta and O Streets in Dinuba, the site, where the Dinuba Korean Presbyterian Church, built in 1912, once stood. This monument is in memory of the early Korean immigrants Christian faith and tradition, their many patriotic activities that were conducted in the church, and their toil and survival in a foreign land.
One will find another granite monument (4x4x5) at the intersection of Fresno and L streets in downtown Dinuba, a monument erected in memory of Koreans parade of the Dinuba’s main boulevard and thorough fare to celebrate the first anniversary of the Korean Independence Day, on March 1st, 1920.
Within a year or so, a monument and pavilion will have been constructed in Reedley, on Reed Avenue. A replica of the Korean Independence Gate in Korea, to be named in English, Unity Gate, will adorn three monuments dedicated to the memories of the Reedley Korean pioneers, businessmen and patriots, Charles Kim, Harry Kim, and Kim Yong-jeung.
A scholarly book on Central California Korean immigrant history, Koreans in Central California: A Study of Settlement and Transnational Politics, will soon be available from University Press of America.
On-going campaign to purchase back the former Reedley Korean Presbyterian Church from the current owner and preserve it for posterity.
Over 30 items of historical significance that will be on exhibit are stored with CCKHS special collections.
Rare books, documents and pictures that inform the early Korean immigrant lives and history are stored with CCKHS special collections.
