Out of their meager earnings of only $.67 cents a day the dream of returning home to Korea remained a dream (75th pp58). During that time there was not even a country to go back to because Korea had been annexed by Japan. The young immigrants soon became middle-aged, and many remained bachelors, for Korean men overwhelmingly outnumbered Korean women. This situation brought about numerous social problems, prompting the plantation owners to match make the Korean men to other nationalities, but the Korean men refused to marry Japanese or Chinese women. It was finally decided that they would import brides from Korea. The 951 picture brides were mainly from North and South Kyongsang Provinces. Bachelors lucky enough to receive their brides started new homes and gained the courage to leave the plantations and move into towns. Picture brides who got married between 1912 and 1924 assimilated the new culture and began making huge contributions toward the activities of Korean churches and associations, and the education of the Koreans. These brave young women, who had traded their beloved homeland for pictures of their not-so-young men, experienced all sorts of difficulties in a strange society where a different language was spoken, different customs were observed, and different systems were practiced. These women took a major role in keeping the family unit intact, insisting upon educating their young and actively participating in religious and political events (75th pp18 and pp40) and (Patterson pp81-86). .
The third wave of Korean immigrants to Hawaii (1947-1967) consisted of students, peace brides, and war orphans. Immigration of Koreans to the U.S. ceased in 1924 with the Oriental Exclusion Act, however, Korean student were able to come to the U.S. to study. The student visa meant that Koreans could stay in the U.S. while being enrolled in an institution of higher education, which was approved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
