The exhibition documents The Records of the Korean Independence Outbreak, which is a collection in the Mission Research Library archives at The Burke Library. The Records were sent from Shanghai to Charles Fahs, the librarian of the former Mission Research Library in New York, by Korean Independence leaders in exile during 1919. They include typescript reports describing events in March/April 1919 and are accompanied by a pamphlet with rare black and white photographs illustrating the events.
Commonly referred to as the Samil Movement (literally “three one”) for its historical date on March 1, 1919, the Korean Independence Movement was one of the earliest and most significant displays of nonviolent demonstration against Japanese occupation of Korea. The nonviolent struggle would inspire similar movements in China, Egypt and the Philippines.
Japanese NHK, the Japanese PBS TV company, took the initiative in requesting information from and about these records for inclusion in a documentary series to be broadcast in Japan in 2010. As a result it was decided to create this online exhibition of all the papers, historically important for Korean history, to ensure worldwide availability.
The exhibition was curated by Ruth Tonkiss Cameron, Archivist for Union Theological Seminary & The Burke Library Collections.