Korean American Community History

Do you know that Towson University has a long history with Greater Baltimore’s Korean community? View the timeline of Baltimore Koreatown – Towson University Historic Milestones 1965 – 2018.

Baltimore's First Koreatown

Baltimore’s Charles North neighborhood, home to AA&CC's annual Asia North Exhibition and Festival, is the site of Baltimore’s first unofficial Koreatown, which began to form in the 1960s and was at its height in the 1990s.

Read about Baltimore's first Koreatown

Korean Immigrants and Their Legacy in Baltimore

Korean immigrants migrated to Baltimore in three main waves between 1903 and the early 1980s. The Korean American Foundation–Greater Washington published a paper summarizing the experiences of individuals who came to Baltimore between 1883-2024 with a focus on the 1970s.

Read the paper (PDF)

Soon He So: Continuing the Tradition

Local musician Dami Soh Schlobohm remembers her mentor, Soon He So, who formed the Asian American Arts Academy in 1985, providing classes in various Korean-American churches throughout Maryland and Northern Virginia and giving students an opportunity to reconnect with their Korean heritage.

Learn more about Soon He So

Hyunsuk Erickson: “My Father’s Shelter vs. My Shelter”

Artist Hyunsuk Erickson shares how she incorporates industrial materials within sculptures and installations, which reflect aspects of her Korean and American identity and lived experiences. This video is excerpted from the 2021 virtual festival Our Stories.

Watch the video on YouTube

Sookkyung Park: "Sookkyung’s Art"

Through her artwork, Sookkyung Park (TU MFA ‘23) shares her story as an immigrant and an artist, from establishing an arts and crafts studio in South Korea, to her exploration of different media to express the challenges and changes her family experienced when they immigrated to the US

Watch a video to learn about the artist on YouTube

Debris by Changil Kim

While a student in the Rinehart School of Sculpture MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2023, Changil Kim interviewed two Korean American women living in Towson and created a ceramic work titled Debris to share their stories.

Learn more about the artwork

Journey from Korea into the United States by Ara Ko

While an MFA candidate in MICA’s Hoffberger School of Painting, Ara Ko interviewed Angela, a Korean American elder in Baltimore, and created Journey from Korea into the United States to share Angela's story.

Learn more about the artwork

Our Home Too: Mark Chang

Mark Chang, Maryland State Delegate for District 32, shares his family's early ties to Baltimore, including a Korean restaurant owned by his father. This is part of a 2021 panel organized by AA&CC, Baltimore Sister Cities, and Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Watch the video on YouTube

Behind the Plexiglass: A Corner Store Witnesses Generations of Love and Loss in West Baltimore

While many other Korean American merchants have retired and sold their businesses, the Lees never left, working more than eight hours a day, seven days a week with few exceptions

Read the article from December 2022, courtesy of The Baltimore Banner (PDF)