Wonsook Kim

Wonsook Kim was born in 1953 in Busan, South Korea, just after the war’s end. Upon her first birthday, her family moved back to Seoul where they had lived prior to the Korean War; Wonsook recounts growing up in a large family—the 2nd of 8 children—with her many siblings, aunts, and two grandmothers. As the 2nd eldest daughter, she felt as though she was an outsider in many ways, always in the background, while worrying about what she could do be recognized as someone who brought delight and joy into different spaces. In hindsight, Wonsook states that it was perhaps due to this distance that she was able to grow as an artist. This distance grew when she came to the United States to pursue college and graduate school at Illinois State University, which today houses the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts as well as the Wonsook Kim School of Art. Upon graduation, her career took a turn upon winning the 1976 Elizabeth Stein Art Scholarship which allowed her to relocate to New York City, where she worked a variety of jobs to support herself as an artist. In 1977, a passing curator noticed her studio and offered for her work to be displayed at The Drawing Center in SoHo, and the rest is history; since then, she has displayed her artwork at 67 solo exhibitions and galleries. Wonsook stresses how blessed she feels to be able to do what she loves with the full support of her husband and children, and is determined to “pay back”—her words—all those who supported her throughout her long career.

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To capture, create, preserve and share
the stories of the Korean American experience
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Legacy Project

To capture, create, preserve and share the stories of the Korean American experience by supporting and promoting storytelling

Wonsook Kim

Wonsook Kim was born in 1953 in Busan, South Korea, just after the war’s end. Upon her first birthday, her family moved back to Seoul where they had lived prior to the Korean War; Wonsook recounts growing up in a large family—the 2nd of 8 children—with her many siblings, aunts, and two grandmothers. As the 2nd eldest daughter, she felt as though she was an outsider in many ways, always in the background, while worrying about what she could do be recognized as someone who brought delight and joy into different spaces. In hindsight, Wonsook states that it was perhaps due to this distance that she was able to grow as an artist. This distance grew when she came to the United States to pursue college and graduate school at Illinois State University, which today houses the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts as well as the Wonsook Kim School of Art. Upon graduation, her career took a turn upon winning the 1976 Elizabeth Stein Art Scholarship which allowed her to relocate to New York City, where she worked a variety of jobs to support herself as an artist. In 1977, a passing curator noticed her studio and offered for her work to be displayed at The Drawing Center in SoHo, and the rest is history; since then, she has displayed her artwork at 67 solo exhibitions and galleries. Wonsook stresses how blessed she feels to be able to do what she loves with the full support of her husband and children, and is determined to “pay back”—her words—all those who supported her throughout her long career.

Sam Hyun

Sam Hyun was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, where he spent most of his life before moving to D.C. Sharing his family story, he tells us of how the immigrant’s psyche can be worn down and damaged in the pursuit of the American Dream, an experience he both witnessed and encountered through his relationship with his father. Raised by his mother, Sam recalls how she had to endure grueling hours of multiple jobs to care for her family while his father, who traveled often on business trips, was largely absent from his life. He shares with us a memory of the exact moment his father left the family for good: an argument over his mother purchasing the laundromat she had worked at for years, a decision which would improve the family’s financial prospects but one which exposed the pride and insecurities of a father who had failed to live up his myth of an American life. Today, as Co-Founder of @1587sneakers and the Director of Government Relations at @taaforg, Sam works to change both the narrative of how we as Asian Americans present ourselves, as well as the harmful narratives to which we subscribe.

Eugenia Kim

Eugenia Kim was born in 1952 in White Plains, New York, to parents who immigrated to the United States between World War II and the Korean War. Because her father had worked for the US military government in Korea, Eugenia’s family had certain privileges which allowed them to relocate to the United States during the interwar period. Eugenia was born while her father was working for the Voice of America, and soon afterwards the family moved to the DMV, where she spent most of her childhood in Tacoma Park. Both of her parents were deeply involved with the early Korean American community in Washington, D.C., her father a minister of the Methodist Church and her mother a local contact for fresh kimchi for Asian restaurants in the area. After college, Eugenia worked in hospitality, then in graphic design, before going back to school for an MFA in creative writing; today, she is the author of two published novels. Believing that creative expression is a powerful means of meditating on one’s identity, she encourages anyone who has ever struggled with the question “Who am I?” to turn to storytelling for an answer.

Thomas Park Clement

Thomas Park Clement was born in Seoul in the middle of the Korean War. He tells us that the earliest memories he has are of the flashes and noises from explosions outside his crib area, and that the trauma of war would resurface in recurrent fever dreams for years afterward. When he was four and a half years old, his biological mother led him to a street where she instructed him to look down the road in one direction; this would be the final time he saw his biological family. Soon thereafter, a Methodist nurse found and brought him to an orphanage, where he endured constant bullying and belittlement alongside other mixed children. A year later, he was adopted into the Clement family to begin the next chapter of his life in America. Inspired by the cartoon “Clyde Crashcup,” he strived to become an inventor, and today has 77 patents to his name in medical technology, and has donated funds for members of the Korean American Adoptees’ community to receive DNA testing kits for free.

Jung Ja Lee

Jung Ja Lee, who sometimes goes by “JJ,” was born in Seoul in 1945, growing up with three older sisters, an older brother, and a younger brother. When the Korean War broke out, she remembers how her uncle unexpectedly arrived at her home with his own family, warning them that it was time for them to head south. Their family sought refuge at Pyeongtaek City, located in the south of Gyeonggi Province, a journey that took 9 days of walking by foot on country roads to avoid running into soldiers. Upon returning to their home in Seoul, Mrs. Lee found that while her home was intact, their furniture had been stripped of its drawers, presumably by individuals who were unable to flee Seoul but needed fires to burn. Later in life, she operated a Baskin Robbins in Toronto, Canada, with her husband, and she continues to call Canada her home. When asked by her daughter, Vivian Lee, if she has a message she’d like to tell her grandchildren, Mrs. Lee says that she wishes to spend more time with them… and that she is a confidential bearer of their secrets!

Chown Soon Cho

Chown Soon Cho was born in Bugok-ri, Gochang-gun, North Jeolla Province, during the Japanese occupation. When she was three years old, her mother gave her to her eldest aunt to raise as her own, a common practice at the time. It wasn’t until she was ten years old that her grandmother revealed that she had been adopted by her relative, a surprise which, at the time, developed into feelings of betrayal. Soon after, the Korean War forced Mrs. Cho to shelter with her grandparents, rather than seeking refuge elsewhere. She recalls seeing the North Korean enter her village, as well as the traumatic experience of being held hostage by them. After the war concluded, she married and had eight children before immigrating to the United States in 1984, with her children following her later. Although her life has been filled with moments of profound sorrow, she tells us that today, she finds joy in her children and grandchildren, asking for little more than their own happiness.

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