Information courtesy of www.eastrockinstitute.org
Nearly fifty years old, ERI is the oldest organization devoted to research on Korean and Korean American culture in the United States. East Rock Institute, previously known as the Korea Institute, was started in 1952 and incorporated in Cambridge, MA in 1956.
The Korea Institute was started by Kwang Lim Koh and Hesung Chun Koh with the intention of promoting better mutual understanding between Korea and the United States through a variety of scholarly and cultural activities.
After leaving Cambridge for New Haven, the Koh family continued the Institute and, in 1966, purchased the building on 251 Dwight Street that now houses ERI.
The East Rock Press, an affiliate of ERI that promotes cultural exchange through publishing books, was incorporated in 1974. The launching of the Korean and Korean American Studies Bulletin (KKASB) in 1984, and the conversion of the three levels of 251 Dwight Street into office space in 1985, prepared the way for the formal establishment of East Rock Institute in March 1986.
The Institute’ s official opening in June was followed by its incorporation with the State of Connecticut in November and its first annual meeting in December 1986.