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ImmigrationProf Blog
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Immigrant of the Day: Mary Paik Lee (Korea)

By immigrationprof

Marypaiklee Mary Paik Lee (1900-95) was a writer, born Paik Kuang Sun in Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea. In 1905, she left Korea with her family and arrived in Hawaii. In December 1906, the family moved to California, where Paik Lee would live the rest of her life.  Despite Paik Lee’s father’s educated status in Korea, her parents in California took on a variety of menial jobs and Paik Lee suffered many hardships.

Quietodyssey Mary Paik Lee’s memoir, Quiet Odyssey (1990) was one of the first memoirs by an Asian-American woman. Covering the majority of the twentieth century, Quiet Odyessey provides an important perspective on the last century.  Click here for a biography with excerpts from her autobiography .

KJ