[KS] New Resource

[Judy Van Zile]

October 26, 1998


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HALLA HUHM DANCE COLLECTION NOW AVAILABLE

The Halla Huhm Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of the
Halla Huhm Dance Collection.  The Collection spans the period from the
early 1900s through 1997, and documents a large part of the professional
life of Korean dancer Halla Pai Huhm and Korean dance in Hawaii.  It
contains more than 700 items of correspondence, flyers, programs, and
newspaper clippings in English, Japanese, and Korean;  more than 6,500
photographs;  several videotapes;  and numerous awards and other
memorabilia.

The Collection, which is owned by Mary Jo Freshley, long-time student,
associate, and assistant to Huhm, was sorted, placed in archivally-sound
storage containers, and inventoried through generous support from the
Hawaii Committee for the Humanities, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the
Halla Huhm Foundation, and the  Center for Korean Studies at the
University of Hawaii at Manoa.  Support from these organizations also made
possible the production of a 180-page catalog (an inventory and finding
aid) of the Collection.

Following her immigration to Hawaii in 1949, Halla Huhm and the Korean
dance studio she founded became the longest, continuing contributors to
the perpetuation of Korean dance in the Islands.  Huhm and her students
performed at countless functions sponsored by a vast array of community
organizations in settings as diverse as parades, restaurants, and formal
concert halls.  Upon her death in 1994, activities of the studio she
founded were continued by Mary Jo Freshley. 

The Collection left by Huhm is valuable in providing a broad range of
information for general purposes and for research studies focusing on such
topics as immigrant traditions in the Hawaiian Islands, Korean dance and
costuming, ethnic studies, and religion.  The catalog of the Collection
serves as a major source of information in itself.  It includes a
biographical sketch of Halla Huhm, an essay on Koreans in Hawaii, a brief
chronology of events relating to Korean immigration to Hawaii, a list of
suggested related readings, and an annotated listing of all items in the
Collection.  Keywords for each entry in the inventory identify names of
dances in Halla Huhms repertoire and names of people, institutions, and
organizations associated with various activities.  Keywords are
summarized, by major category, in appendices.

The Collection and its catalog make important resource materials available
to the community and the scholarly world, and provide a model for the
organization of small, immigrant-related and performing arts collections.

Copies of the catalog are available for purchase ($20, including postage
and handling).  Use of the Collection is available by appointment.

For information contact:
		
Center for Korean Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa
1881 East-West Road
Honolulu, Hawaii  96822
phone:  (808) 956-7041
		or
Mary Jo Freshley
c/o Halla Huhm Dance Studio
1502-B S. King St.
Honolulu, Hawaii  96826
phone:  (808) 949-2888



Judy Van Zile
Professor of Dance
Department of Theatre and Dance
University of Hawaii
1770 East-West Rd.
Honolulu, Hawaii  96822
U.S.A.

phone:  (808) 956-2596
fax:  (808) 956-4234
e-mail:  zile at hawaii.edu




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