Sammy Lee papers
Scope and Contents
The Sammy Lee papers, 1920-2010, consist of awards, certificates, audiovisual materials, scrapbooks, copies of a biography, and other various ephemera documenting Lee's life and career as both a two-time gold medal winning Korean-American Olympic athlete as well as a physician. The collection comprises primarly two large scrapbooks, one each to commemorate Sammy Lee's participation in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games. The scrapbooks are filled with photographs, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia related to those Olympic Games. The collection includes two copies of "Not Without Honor: The Story of Sammy Lee" by Molly Frick Wampler; one is the published copy from Santa Barbara: The Fithian Press, 1987, the other is a more extensive printed typescript of the book. The collection also includes awards and certificates presented to Sammy Lee for various events and accomplishments, including sports awards and presidential recognitions. The rest of the collection consists of a few video cassettes, one DVD, and a copy of the 24th Anniversary Korean American Medical Association Membership Directory.
Dates
- 1920 - 2010
Creator
- Lee, Sammy, 1920-2006 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Curator of the Korean Heritage Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Korean Heritage Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Biographical Note
Born on August 1, 1920, Sammy Lee was a Korean American gold medal Olympian and physician. Lee won gold for platform diving at the 1948 Olympics in London and at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He was the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States, as well as the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.
Growing up in Highland Park in Los Angeles, Lee faced ethnic prejudice; he was only able to use a neighboring pool in Pasadena once a week on Wednesdays, when it was dubbed "International Day." Unwilling to let this impede his practicing, Lee's coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand so Lee could practice his jumping.
Lee received his undergraduate degree from Occidental as a student athlete. In 1947, he received his M.D. from USC's School of Medicine. He also joined the U.S. Army Medical Corps, where he served from 1953-1955.
Despite his achievements and fame, Lee continued to experience ethnic prejudice in the 1950s when he attempted to purchase a home in Garden Grove, California, but was told he could not. After retiring from diving, Lee became a coach to the likes of Bob Webster, Greg Louganis, and Pat McCormick. He was also a physician and member of the Korean-American Medical Association.
Lee was married to Rosalind Wong and had two children. He died on December 2 2016, at age 96, due to complications from pneumonia.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Sammy Lee was a two-time Korean American Olympic gold medal winning diver, physician, and USC alum. This small collection consists of awards, certificates, audiovisual materials, scrapbooks, copies of a biography, and other various ephemera documenting Lee's life and career.
Organization
The collection is organized in the following four series: Biographical materials, Awards and certificates, Audiovisual materials, and Scrapbooks.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Sammy Lee, 1989
- Asian American men -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Books
- Divers -- United States -- Archival resources
- Ephemera
- Korean American physicians -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Korean-American Medical Association -- Archives
- Lee, Sammy, 1920-2006 -- Archives
- Louganis, Greg, 1960- -- Archives
- Olympic Games (14th : 1948 : London, England) -- Archives
- Olympic Games (15th : 1952 : Helsinki, Finland) -- Archives
- Olympic athletes -- United States -- Archival resources
- Scrapbooks
- Video recordings
- Title
- Finding aid for the Sammy Lee papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lindsay Long, Sarah Cassone
- Date
- 2017 December
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries East Asian Library Repository
Doheny Memorial Library
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-1825 United States