Description
Book SynopsisThe first biography of an American-born Korean woman, Doing What Had to Be Done is, on the surface, the life story of Dora Yum Kim. But telling more than one woman's story, author Soo-Young Chin offers more than an unusual glimpse at the shaping of a remarkable community activist. In addition -- as she questions her subject, introduces each chapter, and reflects on how Dora's story relates to her own experience as a Korean American who immigrate to this country as an adult -- she carves around Dora's compelling story and courageous life story a story of her own and one of all Korean Americans. Born in 1921, Dora, as she tells Chin her story, chronicles the shifting salience of gendered ethnic identity as she journeys through her life. Traveling through time and place, she moves from San Francisco's Chinatown -- where Koreans were a minority within a minority -- to suburban Dewey Boulevard where Dora and her family attempt to integrate into mainstream America, and where she becomes a social worker in the California State Department of Employment. As the Korean immigrant community grows in the late 1960s, Dora becomes deeply involved in community service. She remembers teaching English to senior citizens and preparing them for their naturalization exams, finding jobs for the younger Koreans, and founding a community center and meals program for seniors. A detailed and inspiring lens through which to view Korean American history, Dora's life journey echoes the changing spaces of the American social landscape. And the grace and ease with which Dora just \u0022does what has to be done\u0022 shows us the importance of everyday acts in making a difference.
Trade Review"History comes to life in this compelling saga of a courageous and controversial Korean-American woman and her biographer. Dora Kim's story-frank, painful, but inspirational-is an enduring testimony to the power of the human spirit to rise to new challenges. Soo-Young Chin's monumental study is a major contribution..." -James M. Freeman, author of Changing Identities: Vietnamese Americans 1975-1995 "...a wonderfully nuanced portrait of the lives of Koreans and Korean Americans in the US, as well as a powerful meditation on the meanings of "Americanness" in the late twentieth century. [Chin] also addresses theoretical issues relating to traditions of Western and Asian autobiography-and ethnography in terms a non-anthropologist can grasp, while the footnotes add another layer of analysis for the specialist." -The Women's Review of Books
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Preface Introduction Part One: Chinatown, San Francisco Descendants of Man Suk Yum and Hang Shin Kim: A Korean Family Tree 1 American Origins 2 Coming of Age 3 A Mother's Devotion Part Two: Dewey Boulevard 4 Leaving Chinatown 5 The Influx 6 Centering Service A Family Gallery Part Three: A Room of Her Own 7 Hidden Costs 8 On Her Own 9 Hwan'gap Conclusion: Doing What Had to Be Done Epilogue: Loose Ends Chronology Notes Index
