In Memory of Molly Holt

It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that Molly Holt, daughter of Holt founders Harry and Bertha Holt, passed away early in the morning on May 17 in Korea. She was 83 years old. 

In South Korea, Molly was known by many names, from the Mother Teresa of Korea to the Mother of all Korea’s Orphans. Although she devoted her life to caring and advocating for children and adults with medical, developmental and physical needs in Korea, she leaves a legacy that is felt around the world.

Born on November 24, 1935 in Firesteel, South Dakota, Molly was the second eldest daughter of Harry and Bertha Holt, who pioneered international adoption in the mid-1950s and later founded Holt International. Molly attended high school in Creswell, Oregon, and later graduated from both the University of Oregon and Sacred Heart Hospital, where she earned a nursing degree in 1956.

The summer of that same year, Molly traveled for the first time to South Korea — fresh out of nursing school, and ready to help her father care for children left orphaned and abandoned in the wake of the Korean War. A devout Christian like her parents, Molly had a vision for her future while in Korea. “I felt that this was where the Lord would have me be for the rest of my life,” she later said.

Molly would go on to spend most of her adult life at the Ilsan Center in Korea, a nurturing, long-term care home that her parents built in the early 1960s for children and adults with special medical, developmental and physical needs. As a nurse and foster mother to the residents of Ilsan, Molly worked to ensure they received the specialized care they needed to reach their potential and live as independently as possible. Through her tireless advocacy, Molly also made it possible for many children in care at Ilsan to join loving, permanent families through adoption. Today, hundreds of families adopt children with special needs every year from countries around the world. But long before it was common, Molly actively sought families for the children who others considered “unadoptable.” Like her parents before her, Molly helped change the culture of adoption by showing that every child is equally worthy of love and acceptance, and that every child deserves to be part of a family.

Only a few times in her life did Molly leave the Ilsan Center for extended periods, and only to pursue additional training so that she could better meet the needs of the children and adult residents of Ilsan. She studied at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, attended Korean language school and Multnomah School of the Bible, did post-graduate work in special education at the University of Oregon, and in December 1991 she earned a master’s degree in special education and rehabilitation from Northern Colorado University. Throughout her life, she received many honors, including a presidential award, the National Order of Civil Merit from Korea in 1981, World Vision’s Bob Pierce award in 1984 and in 2009, for her lifetime of dedication to orphans and people with disabilities, she received the Royal Order of Merit from the king of Norway.

Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013, Molly nevertheless remained steadfast in her commitment to the children and adult residents of the Ilsan Center. Despite her declining health, she said that she would devote her remaining life “to the things that she loves with her whole heart.” Molly never married or had children, but to the residents of Ilsan — many of whom are now in their 50s and 60s — Molly was their only family. They called her “Unee,” or big sister, a name that Molly cherished.

“Molly Holt moved so many with her tireless and admirable efforts, especially for those children with mental and physical disabilities,” says Stephen Noerper, senior director of the Korea Society and senior advisor to the United Nations. “As a brother of adopted, special needs siblings, I salute and admire her legacy of service. She offered six decades of tireless devotion, stood as a credit to her brave parents, and touched, formed and grew many through her compassion. The Korea Society and the entire community of those bent on international friendship and support extend deepest condolences to her family and friends and the entire Holt organization. To Molly Holt’s nobility, spirit and service, all tribute and our love and heartfelt prayers.”

Of Molly’s passing, Lee HongKoo, former prime minister of the Republic of Korea, wrote, “The contribution of Molly Holt to humanity and humanism … is a historic achievement. The modern history of Korea will record her achievement with gratitude and admiration. Many of us in Korea join the Holt adoptee community in recording our love and farewell.”

“I am saddened to hear of the passing of Molly Holt,” says Oregon senator Ron Wyden. “Although she lived most of her life in Korea, all of us in Oregon consider her an exceptional Oregonian.  Molly leaves a legacy of caring and compassion that will endure for generations to come.  Her devotion to orphaned children in Korea and around the world touched the lives of thousands of children and families and changed the hearts and minds of many more for the better.”

Steve Stirling, president and CEO of MAP International, lived at the Ilsan Center in Korea before he was adopted in 1966, at the age of 11. “I thank God for Molly for faithfully serving those in need through Holt and living in Ilsan to care for disabled residents,” he says. “While we will miss you now, I will rejoice when we unite for eternity in Heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus. So long for now until we meet again in our forever home.”

Please pray for Molly’s family and for the many people who have loved her that they might find peace and comfort in their memories.

Services for Molly will be held in Korea at 10:00 a.m. on May 21 at Holt Ilsan Center of Korea. Molly’s family requests that gifts be made in her honor to the Molly Holt Fund for Children With Special Needs. If you would like to share memories or photos of Molly Holt, please email them to photosubmission@holtinternational.org.

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Article Source:  "In Memory of Molly Holt" by Robin Munro

Korean Stone Art Museum: Symbolism and Stone

The Korea Times - March 25, 2016

Asiana, Monthly In-flight Magazine - November 2016

Korean Heritage (web site)

At the Korean Stone Art Museum, all of the stones represent not only cultural art of the past but the symbolism of life beliefs as well!

Muninseok – stone figures representing Joseon literary officials. They are attired in official robes and winged hats or golden headgear (depending on statuary) and carrying a hol (an object held by courtiers when granted an audience with the king). These official garments were worn by courtiers when they participated in national occasions like the king’s wedding and in the national rite for worshipping the late kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty. During the Joseon era, a pair of stone officials was placed in front of a royal burial mound to serve as guardians of the king’s tomb, along with janggunseok and other animal-shaped stone sculptures similarly symbolizing protection of the graves against evil spirits.

Janggunseok – stone statue of military officers equipped with armor, a helmet and swords. Janggunseok and muninseok were placed in the foremost position in front of the grave mound of the king and together with animal-shaped stone sculptures they guarded the king against evil spirits. The demonic faces often engraved on the hilt of their swords and on the guardian’s shoulders represents warding off evil spirits and providing protection.

Dongja – “child attendants” were placed at a tomb of a person of exalted social class and were believed to serve as messengers of the gods. Therefore, these messengers each held or carried wish symbols—e.g. lotus flowers for prosperity and longevity, a bat symbolizing happiness and fertility, a fan for warding off evil spirits and bringing good fortune. Prayers to the dongja were believed to be realized.

Inside is a Hill of Prayers with a collection of dongja, each having a representative symbolic message

Outside is another dongja collection, with each dongja playing or participating in some mode of daily life—e.g. holding traditional instruments, holding kitchen utensils or playing traditional games. These instrument carvings are also seen on beoksu.

Dongjaseok (not to be confused with dongja, the child attendant) is the stone figure of the dongja. Found in and around Seoul, these sculptures were placed before the graves of high-ranking government officials or members of the royal family, except of high-ranking kings and queens, during the 16th – 18th centuries. Wearing plain clothes at times and other times cloaked in heavenly robes and double-knot hairdos, they were believed to connect the world of the deceased with that of the mourners. They stand obediently and submissively in front of the graves.

Dongja were deemed to serve various gods in Taoism, the Buddha in Buddhism, and the occupants of the graves in Confucianism. Therefore, the shape and role of dongja vary from grave guardian to village guardian, depending on the religious thought. The early child attendant images were highly decorative and vibrant as shown by Buddhist works, but they were gradually superseded by simpler and more austere images under the influence of Confucianism. The statues were often combined with muninseok, or stone statutes of civil officials, after the 17th century, resulting in the disappearance of their original characteristic features.

Beoksu – the stone version of the wooden jangseung (yin and yang guardians), which were placed at the entrance of a village as guardians to frighten away demons and ward off evil spirits and illnesses from penetrating the community. Since beoksu were thought to possess superpowers that could bring good fortune and prevent troubles, people prayed to them in the hope of making their wishes come true.

Though beoksu drove away evil spirits, they did not have a scary look, nor did they have a standard appearance. Various forms with candid and often humorous faces reflected people’s traditions and regional beliefs and practices. 

Some beoksu held pipes as the pipe is a symbol of tranquility and prosperity. And there is the legend of the manpasikjeok, a pipe from Silla, in which people believed that, once the pipe was played, the country would not experience any conflicts. Similarly, playing the pipe was believed to subside waves, a belief also dating back to the Silla Dynasty. Other beoksu had turtles carved on them; in folk belief and Taoism the turtle symbolizes good health, fertility, and longevity and so is one of the 10 traditional longevity symbols. Others held a crane, another longevity symbol and also with auspicious indications, a sickle symbolizing harvest and abundance. or a sword, the symbol of protection. Others simply had a house carving on them, the nest of prosperity and representing the microcosm. During the later part of the Joseon Dynasty, as the incidence of smallpox worsened every year, people started to have a folk belief that beoksu, a Korean traditional totem post, would keep them away from smallpox. Some beoksu even had the character ho(虎) for tiger carved on them, which embodied the villagers’ wish for good health. 

Each house had a carved beoksu, a Korean traditional totem pole, signifying the prosperity of a village community. Beoksu stones are representative of the common people and therefore were more carefree and humorous, and often representative of the character of the regions where they were carved.

Jangmyeongdeung – a stone lantern was placed to light up a graveyard. Its spiritual function for the deceased was to pray for eternal life and enlightenment in the heaven. According to Joseon dynasty (1392 – 1910) law, only high-ranking officials were allowed to place the lantern at their grave mounds. Symbols appear on the sides, e.g. a bat symbolizing happiness and fertility, a cloud for immortality and abundance.

Mangjuseok – stone pillars placed on each side of a grave

Hamabi – dismount markers. Markers such as this one, which commanded “all officials to dismount from their horses” as a show of respect, were placed at the entrance to a palace or the royal ancestral shrine of Joseon Dynasty. Depending on their rank, officials were required to dismount at a specific number of paces before the entrance, e.g. senior officials were required to dismount 10 steps before it, mid-ranking officials 20 steps, and low-ranking officials 30 steps. 

Prayer for rain stone – a dragon-engraved stonework used in rain rituals. As dragons were symbolically portrayed as the “god of water” in many Eastern cultures, precipitation rituals were held in the presence of a dragon-engraved stonework or in front of a dragon-shaped rock or well.

Stone Buddha – the statue of Buddha made by civilians showing austere and natural beauty

Deva King (Vajradhara) – one of the guardian deities in Buddhism, usually positioned to the left and right of temple gates to repulse evil spirits

Picture Credits:

While I took many pictures while at the Korean Stone Art Museum, I didn't get a representative shot of all of the categories listed above, so to be consistent in providing example pictures, I've only posted picture carefully clipped from the Google Arts & Culture collection for the Korean Stone Art Museum, so all photo credits go to them.

About the collection, it was first launched under the name of the Google Art Project on 1 February 2011, with the goal of collecting high-resolution images of artworks housed in partner museums around the world and creating a cyber platform with "walk through" features, providing information on galleries and artworks. By April 2012 the art project platform had signed agreements with 151 museums in 40 countries, and in 2016 the Korean Stone Art Museum was added to the online digital collection. As of the end of December 2018, 45 museums in Korea have had representative collections digitalized and posted on the Google Arts & Culture collection, the revised name the Google Art Project. The Korean Stone Art Museum is one of these 45!