Seog Byung Kim
August 8, 2014
True Mother speaking at the dedication of True Parents- Historical Archives
Though some effort had been made over the years, we had not been preserving and organizing the thousands of items scattered around the globe that True Parents used, or that record (in writing, sound or visually) True Parents' efforts to bring salvation to all humanity and to liberate God's heart. True Parents' Historical Archives is now open and actively pursuing that noble objective.
The dedication ceremony of True Parents' Historical Archives
On August 8, at 10:30 AM, the dedication ceremony of True Parents' Historical Archives began at the Korean- FFWPU Headquarters building. True Mother and approximately 150 people, including Sun Jin nim and her husband In Sup nim, Kwon Jin nim and his wife Hwa Yun nim, senior church members, heads of providential organizations, special emissaries, regional presidents, district pastors, directors of FFWPU headquarters departments, pastors in Seoul and church executives from Japan partook in the event. The event was held in two parts. The first part took place on the second floor of the headquarters building, where the archives are located. True Mother led the unveiling ceremony that revealed "True Parents' Historical Archives" displayed on the wall.
True Mother then offered a prayer, blessing the dedication: beloved Heavenly Parent,
Today, on the thirteenth day of the seventh heavenly calendar month in the second year of Cheon Il Guk, we thank you for allowing True Parents' Historical Archives to be dedicated to you and to True Parents. Your efforts, dedication and hard work until now established the names of your children, and we thank you for allowing us to dedicate this sacred time to you. May this place, a treasure that preserves the historical records of how much True Parents loved humanity and how hard they worked for the completion of the providential history, be well preserved and together with the erection of the Museum of True Parents' Lives may it express our desire to dedicate something bigger to you for future generations. Father, please take command of everything. I once more thank you for allowing this day to take place. I pray all this in True Parents' names. Aju.
Purification of the Area
After the unveiling of the sign designating True Parents' Historical Archives
A tape cutting followed the prayer. Mother sanctified the archives with holy salt. She and her entourage inspected the inside of the archives, guided by Seog Byung Kim, director of the FFWPU History Compilation Committee..
The second part of the event took place on the eighth floor auditorium of the headquarters building, where the guests enjoyed a luncheon banquet. The emcee was Jae Seong Lee, vice-president of FFWPU-Korea. Rev. Jae Seok Lee prayed. Kyeong Seuk Lu welcomed the guests.
Rev. Young Hwi Kim gave a congratulatory address expressing elation over the dedication ceremony, "This is the first event among the commemorative events for the second anniversary of True Father's Seonghwa. Dispersed materials related to True Parents are finally in one place, where they will be preserved, arranged, exhibited, displayed, read or used for reference and for the production of books. It is a great joy to have the dedication ceremony of the True Parents' Historical Archives, which will be carrying out all these functions." He went on to emphasize the following:
True Parents planted numerous teachings and lived the tradition that humanity must inherit as they led God's providence of restoration. This is why our church and humanity are destined to find the way -- through the tradition and teachings they left us and through their lives. In this light, the opening of True Parents' Historical Archives is indeed significant. I hope that the depository being dedicated at this time is not only successful at preserving historical materials on True Parents but also in providing materials that can properly introduce True Parents to our members and to the rest of the world. I especially hope materials can be produced on our church history. I believe that organizing True Parents' history and our church history is connected with clearly establishing the direction in which we must go. God established our church; hence, as it is the central religion within the providence of restoration, the history of our Unification Church must be able to show that we have a tradition. Simply put, I believe that our present task is to compile history in such a way that anyone can easily understand the consistent providential history that connects God, Jesus and True Parents."
True Mother's Message
True Mother and Sun Jin nim looking around the exhibition hall
The guests were treated to a congratulatory performance. True Mother presented mementos commemorating the opening of the archive, and then expressed her heart at this significant juncture:
I thought of something on my way to the dedication of these archives. I received a report while in Hawaii. One elder member from Japan hoped to see for himself, before he died, the many achievements that he had heard True Parents had carried out for the Las Vegas providence. With this hope, he came to Las Vegas. When I heard the news, I thought that upon my return to Korea I should make better use of the Hannam-dong residence; I am thinking of using it as a guesthouse and as a church. This, too, would be recorded in the archives. Even though members around the world are living in the same era as True Parents, among them still are members that have not been able to make it to Korea for particular reasons and those who cannot afford to. You know that there are members like that around the world, don't you? Even though many of the world's people have come here to experience many events, still some could not afford to come. For members, the place where True Parents stayed or lived… Aren't all members worldwide True Parents' children? As children, wouldn't they want to sleep at least once in a house their parents lived in or stayed in? They would want to feel their love and sense their essence, wouldn't they? That is why I am resolute about doing this.
Our responsibility is important. Your responsibility is important. As God's homeland, Korea should be able to fulfill its responsibility as a nation. To have a providence like that of Israel's… What should I say? If I am blunt, Jewish people might protest. You already know many things through history and through what True Parents have shown in the providence until now. You know how you should live before your life on earth comes to its conclusion. Hence, you cannot go to the spiritual world by just living as you do now. You should be able to complete something and make some result within your generation, shouldn't you? If so, what should you do?
As long as True Parents' Historical Archives exists, the history and records of your lives will also be preserved. I have repeatedly said that you should become devoted children, loyal subjects, ancestors and true owners. I have told you everything. What else should I say? What is left now is for you to practice it in your lives.
That is why I came here with a happy heart. I want God, this nation and the people of the world to be able to hear that you, the brothers and sisters of God's homeland, are indeed different, are qualified as ancestors and have no faults. What do you think? Will you do that? [Yes] I hope you do your best. Thank you.
History and Scale of the Archives
True Mother cutting the tape with her Kwon Jin Nim, Sun Jin nim and In Sup nim children and son-in-law
Director Seog Byung's Kim progress report, accompanied by a video, described the history and scale of the historical archives. The History Compilation Committee began its existence on November 1, 1981, at the Korean headquarters. Those working for the committee were tasked with collecting and preserving church materials. However, a lack of space led them to move to an annex building of the Segye Times company. When the Segye Times complex underwent reconstruction, the archives had to be moved to the rooftop of the Suwon District church building and some of the materials had to be stored in a container at Sun Moon University's Cheonan campus. However, in the process, all the materials, especially those in the container, suffered great damage. True Mother's support in dedicating True Parents' Historical Archives was timely in managing these materials. Director Kim then explained the arrangement and state of the archives and the scale of the preserved materials.
The first section of the archives consists of materials related to True Parents, the True Family and elder members. In this section are preserved books that True Parents signed, photographs and materials from the early days that elder members donated.
The second section is the text section. Around 6,600 binders containing text that include official memos and papers on major events are here.
The third section is on periodicals. Around 7,400 volumes published in Korea and abroad, such as Tongil Segye and the Japanese publication, Family, are preserved here.
The fourth section is the book section. Around 11,000 books on topics related to our church, published since the early days, are arranged here. The book section includes Explanation of the Divine Principle and a variety of books published overseas.
The fifth section has photograph albums and clippings of media coverage. Here are around 2,200 albums and 657 volumes of clippings from publications that have been preserved beginning in 1955.
The sixth section is the audio and video tape section. We have tape recordings of True Parents' teachings since 1956. In case the original tapes are lost or damaged, we have also made back-up copies. We have preserved 24,600 recordings. We received 1,006 video films from the United States.
The seventh section is the photographic section. Photographic negatives of True Parents and major events conducted by the headquarters and providential organizations from the early days until now are housed here. We have about one thousand binders full of negatives, which fill about a hundred boxes. Aside from Korean materials, we have also received 1.7 million photographs of True Parents' activities in the United States. We are in the process Segye Times of digitizing all of these.
After explaining that the records in the library have been divided into these seven classifications, Director Kim also introduced the exhibition hall. He explained that the displays there were organized centered on the Holy Wedding and cover the period after the establishment of HSA-UWC, starting from Father's ordeal in Seodaemun prison to the time True Parents left Korea for the sake of the global providence. The artifacts are displayed in such a way that one can get a glimpse of what our church is all about. He added that at the center of the exhibition hall, faded papers are displayed on which True Father explained the Divine Principle to Hyo Won Eu, the first national leader of Korea. The holes in the paper give us a picture of True Father's passion as he wrote. In the process of transferring all materials to True Parents' Historical Archives and arranging them, they discovered a roll of color film from True Parents' Holy Wedding. Director Kim expressed how grateful they were for that discovery.
Director Kim's report ended with coverage of the image materials. He explained that there are about 30,000 video tapes from the 1980s, most of which are in a bad state because of oxidation. In order to resolve the problem, a video archival system was built on the fifteenth floor of the Dowon building. Work to digitize the videos is ongoing. This started last year. Eighteen experts are working on the digitization process. They expect to complete the entire project within five years. Furthermore, a container of motion picture films, which were taken in the United States in the 1970s were all transferred to Korea in May. Presently, they are preparing to purchase "Telecine," a machine necessary to digitize motion picture film.
Sensing True Parents' Presence
True Mother inspecting the moving shelves at True Parents' Historical Archives
On November 15, 1969, True Father said, "Everything that I do, from one single thing to all the different things that I have done, will remain for eternity in history as having a value more precious than anything else in history. I am saying that even one single piece of paper that I used will remain as a historical legacy." On November 10, 2000, True Father said, "During the imperial rule, the police would follow people and interrogate them. I had no choice but to burn my diaries, which I had been writing in for over seventeen years. If they still existed today, they would have become a great textbook to guide the young people of the world. However, I had to burn everything. This is how I lost teachings I could have utilized for forty years." He expressed his sadness at the loss of these historical records.
With the installation of mobile shelves, all providential and historical materials in True Parents' Historical Archives, which is now open thanks to True Mother's grace, are easily available (though access to some materials may be limited to authorized personnel). True Parents' Historical Archives not only provide a library and a photograph room, but also an exhibition space where True Parents' presence can be felt through on display artifacts related to Father's Seodaemun prison ordeal (known to Koreans as the 7.4 incident), the Holy Wedding and early days of our church. researchers and general visitors will find they can view materials and read or search through documents. Pastors can study our church history and find materials needed for sermons and others means of enlightening their congregations.
After these presentations, the banquet at which they were given ended with Mr. Jeong Sun Cho, chairman of the Tongil Foundation, leading everyone in three cheers of eog mansei.