| December 2003 One hundred years ago, on January 13, 1903, the S.S. Gaelic arrived in Honolulu Harbor, carrying the first significant group of Korean immigrants to the New World. Most would become laborers on Hawaii’s large sugar cane plantations. A century later, here at the Smithsonian Institution, we celebrated a century’s worth of achievements from the Korean American community, with monthly programs that comprised the Korean American Centennial Commemoration under the auspices of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. And what a historical year this proved to be. We had leading Korean Americans from the fields of journalism, theater, film, literature, politics and academia. We had a sneak preview of Better Luck Tomorrow long before it hit your neighborhood screens. We presented a world premiere of Tracings, a dance program by Dana Tai Soon Burgess (our favorite poster-child throughout the year) in conjunction with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which proved so successful that it will go on tour to at least five cities starting in April 2004. And, we concluded the year with a look at the next 100 years ahead. Not only was the Centennial Commemoration the first sustained focus on Korean Americans throughout the Smithsonian’s history, but it was also the first sustained focus of this scope highlighting any group, regardless of ethnicity. We hope that the success of this year-long Commemoration will continue to open doors for more diverse programming throughout the Smithsonian. And not only because of the lingering smell of kimchi we left behind! As for me, I’m off to enjoy some bon bons and long-neglected books. But beware: in the words of Korean American journalist extraordinaire, K.W. Lee, “Koreans never die,” so who knows … I just might be back for the Bicententennial Commemoration if the Boss-man will have me. Please do visit our Events page, where you can see the year in review. And click on the corresponding Photo Gallery buttons to see what happened each month. I promise it will be an entertaining, even enlightening experience. See you at the next Centennial … Terry Hong |
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| © 2003 Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Program. All rights reserved. |