The 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 immigrated to this country as an adult she carves around Dora's compelling 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. The grace and ease with which Dora just 'does what has to be done' shows us the importance of everyday acts in making a difference. Soo-Young Chin is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Asian-American Studies at the University of Southern California.
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"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
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The history of Koreans in America as told through the remarkable life story of one Korean American woman
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
2 stars out of 5,
This review is from: Doing What Had To Be Done (Asian American History & Cultu) (Paperback)
I'm in the mist of a Korean-American book craze and was excited when I came across this book since I too am a Korean female. Unfortunetly I was disappointed with this book because I was expecting to read a narrative story rather than transcripts of several interviews focusing on Dora Yum Kim's experience as a volunteer and a social activist for the Korean immigrant community. If you're expecting to read about her personal experience as one of the very first American born Koreans in the early 1900s.. you might be disappointed. Its sort of interesting though because she sounds like a compassionate, tolerant non-Korean American. I was also quite annoyed with the author and her Jerry Springer like "final thoughts" at the end of each chapter, it just didn't seem like it belonged there, just wasted pages. I'm not going to give up though, my next read will be Quiet Odyssey by Mary Paik Lee.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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west portal, senior meal program, cigar stand Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Francisco, United States, Dewey Boulevard, Korean American, Centering Service, Asian American, The Influx, Tai-Young Lee, Coming of Age, Department of Employment, American Origins, Korean Center, American-born Koreans, Mother's Devotion, Los Angeles, Leaving Chinatown, Korean Community Service Center, Korean Community Center, Korean Methodist Church, World War, Man Suk Yum, Hang Shin Kim, Kerry Junior, Mason Street, Hidden Costs Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
west portal, senior meal program, cigar stand Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Francisco, United States, Dewey Boulevard, Korean American, Centering Service, Asian American, The Influx, Tai-Young Lee, Coming of Age, Department of Employment, American Origins, Korean Center, American-born Koreans, Mother's Devotion, Los Angeles, Leaving Chinatown, Korean Community Service Center, Korean Community Center, Korean Methodist Church, World War, Man Suk Yum, Hang Shin Kim, Kerry Junior, Mason Street, Hidden Costs Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
3
books
cite this book:
- Romance on a Global Stage: Pen Pals, Virtual Ethnography, and "Mail Order" Marriages by Nicole Constable in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Woman's Inhumanity to Woman by Phyllis Chessler in Back Matter
- A Feeling of Belonging: Asian American Women's Public Culture, 1930-1960 (American History and Culture) by Shirley Lim in Back Matter
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