1900~1920년대 북미 한인유학생사회와 도산 안창호

Abstract

Students and migrant workers were two major groups of the early Korean community in America. Especially the first generation students including Dosan Ahn Chang-ho were the pioneers of founding the Korean community of North America in 1900s. Dosan came to San Francisco in 1902 to study. There lived about 20 students and ginseng merchants at that time. Along with them, Dosan established the Korean Fellowship Society in September of 1903, which became the first Korean organization in North America. The Korean Fellowship Society was developed into the United Korean Association (共立協會) in April of 1905, which proclaimed the beginning of the Korean national movement in North America. Besides Dosan, Rhee Syng-man and Park Yong-mahn arrived in America as students in the mid-1900s. Syngman Rhee distanced himself from the Korean community and concentrated on his own studies. But Park Yong-mahn moved on to Denver of Colorado and Lincoln of Nebraska, where he established the Boys’ Military Academy during his study and initiated a foundation for the Korean independence movement in the Midwestern US. The majority of the Korean students stayed in both California and Nebraska during the 1910s, mainly because there were two major centers for them: the Korean Student Center in Claremont of Southern California, and the Boys’ Military Academy in Hastings of Nebraska. The Claremont Student Center was established by the Korean National Association(大韓人國民會) in order to produce future Korean leaders through education. The Student Center opened for the first time in September 1908, taking in 10 resident students. They lived together and cultivated patriotism and freedom of thought through the weekly debate. They also attended American schools to learn English and other academic skills. The Korean National Association built a new Student Center house in Claremont and held an opening ceremony on October 14, 1911. Around that time, Dosan returned from Korea as a political exile, and the Student Center became instrumental in carrying out Dosan’s vision for the national movement. Meanwhile in Nebraska, the student activities were centered on the Boys’ Military Academy(少年兵學校) which was established by Park Yong-mahn. Park trained the young students for the independence war against Imperial Japan. He opened the Military Academy within a farm in Kearny, Nebraska in June 1909 and moved it to Hastings College in the following year. The school continued its operation, training 30 students every year for two months in summer until 1914. It was notable that the Korean Students’ Alliance was formed on the basis of the school in December of 1912, which was the first Korean students’ association united in North America. Many of these students in 1910s went on to become middle-management leaders in the Korean National Association of North America and the Young Korean Academy(興士團). Furthermore, they also sponsored Korean independent movement. Korean students during the 1920s were different a lot. These students came with official permission from the Japanese colonized government, vis-à-vis the students in exile from the previous decade. These newly arrived ones were highly educated, and they entered colleges or college preparatory schools. There were only 70 college students in 1919, but by 1930, the number grew to 300. With the increase of college student population, in Chicago and New York areas in particular, the dynamics of the student activities in the US changed. In April 1921, the students sought to build a new coalition in support of the March 1st independence movement back in the homeland. The student group formed "The Korean Student Federation of North America" and held its first Convention in Chicago in 1923. Around the time when the student organizations became properly active, Dosan left for Shanghai to set up the Provisional Government for Republic of Korea in April 1919 and he wasn’t directly involved with the Federation. But 38% of the officers in the Federation were comprised of the Young Korean Academy members, Dosan’s disciples, which means that Ahn Chang-ho’s vision for reconstruction of Korea played a prominent role in the Federation’s activity. In summary, Dosan and Park Yong-mahn as the first generation Korean students in North America played a pioneering role in forming the early Korean community of immigrant workers during the 1900s. In the 1910s, the students from Claremont Student Center and Hastings Military Academy became important members of the independence movement through the Korean National Association. In the 1920s, the Korean students had little relationship with the Korean community, and the students exerted themselves in study, by way of which they paved the way for their leading roles in Korea. Thus, the students played various roles for the development of the Korean community over the decades. Dosan’s presence was prominent in all these processes, notably by his contribution to the United Korean Association, Claremont Student Center, and the Young Korean Academy members.