Chicago Public Library shines light on local Korean American history

How it works: Members of the Korean community have donated photos, flyers and brochures that document their social, cultural, and political history in the city.

• The library is cataloging and digitizing the materials to give the public access to them through the library system, Axios' Aïda Amer writes.

Context: Young Park, who works for the Popular Library (a department in the Harold Washington Library Center), helped conceptualize the KAA project after Illinois passed the TEAACH Act in 2021.

• The legislation mandates Asian American history in all public elementary and high school curriculum.

What she's saying: Park, who immigrated from South Korea to Chicago two decades ago, tells Axios that the project grew out of her work with youth in the community, where she saw a desire to hear stories of the people who came before them.

What's ahead: CPL is working to translate and summarize the first round of documents donated to the project, which will be digitized and available for researchers by year-end.

• CPL plans to accept more donations.