An Chang-ho

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Ahn.
An Chang-ho
Ahn Chang-ho in Los Angeles, California.
Ahn Chang-ho in Los Angeles, California.
Korean name
Hangul 안창호
Hanja 安昌浩
Revised Romanization An Chang-ho
McCune-Reischauer An Ch'ang-ho
Pen name
Hangul 도산
Hanja 島山
Revised Romanization Dosan
McCune-Reischauer Tosan

An Chang-ho, or Ahn Chang-ho, pen name Dosan, (November 9, 1878 - March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He established the Young Korean Academy (흥사단; 興士團) and was a key member in the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. An is one of two men believed to have written the lyrics of the aegukga, the South Korean national anthem. He was also the father of Hollywood actor Philip Ahn and Philip was honored with a Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1984. Susan Ahn Cuddy is the oldest daughter of Ahn Chang Ho. She is the first Asian woman in the United States Navy and the first Asian woman to serve as a Gunnery Officer in all US Forces. She worked for Navy Intelligence and was the first Korean American to work for the National Security Agency. She received a Woman of the Year Award in California in 2003 and The American Courage Award from the Asian American Justice Center in Washington DC in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Early Years

Ahn was born in 1878 in Kangso, Pyeongan province, in present-day South Pyongan, North Korea. In 1896, Ahn moved to Seoul where he attended Gusae Hakdang, a missionary-sponsored school and eventually converted to Christianity over a period of four years.

[edit] Immigration to America and Later Years

In 1902, Ahn came to San Francisco with his wife Helen in order to get a better education. While living in California, he witnessed two Koreans fighting in the streets over sales turf. Ahn was apparently upset by this display of incivility among his countrymen overseas, and he began to invest time into reforming the local Korean diaspora, rising to become one of the first leaders of the Korean-American community.[1] He founded the Friendship Society in 1903, the first Korean organization in the continental United States. In 1906, he established the Mutual Assistance Society (MAS). MAS would eventually merge with the United Korean Society in Hawaii to become the Korean National Association (대한인국민회; 大韓人國民會), the official agent of Koreans in the United States until the end of World War II.[2]

Many consider Ahn Chang-ho to be one of the key moral and philosophical leaders of Korea during the 20th century. In the turmoil immediately before and during the Japanese occupation of Korea, he called for the moral and spiritual renewal of the Korean people through education as one of the important components in their struggle for independence.

In 1938, Japanese authorities arrested Ahn, but due to severe illness, he was released on bail and transferred to the Kyungsung University hospital where he died on March 10, 1938. A memorial park (called 'Dosan Park'; Korean: 도산공원) and hall were built to honor him in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.[3] Another memorial was built in downtown Riverside, California to honor him. Ahn's family home on 36th Place in Los Angeles has been restored by the University of Southern California, on whose campus it sits (albeit in a different location)[1]. The City of Los Angeles has also declared the nearby intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Van Buren Place to be "Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Square" in his honor[2]. The Taekwondo pattern Do-San was named after him.

A main freeway interchange in downtown Los Angeles where the 10 Freeway and 110 Freeway meet is named after Dosan Ahn Chang Ho.

[edit] Plaque inscriptions

Statue of Ahn Chang-ho in Riverside, California.
Statue of Ahn Chang-ho in Riverside, California.

On the plaques surrounding his statue in Riverside, CA:

  • Fact 1
  • Fact 2
  • Fact 3
  • Fact 4
The ideal of cooperation

Dosan admired the California Fruit Growers Exchange and realized that cooperation was the growers’ key to success. He taught Koreans this ideal of cooperation to help build their national strength

  • Fact 5
Leader of independence, c. 1919
Dosan organized the Korean Provisional Government, in

exile in Shanghai. The government upheld the Shanghai, Declaration of Independence, based on Dosan’s democractic ideals.

  • Fact 6
Reconciliation and Dosan fought wholeheartedly for a true Korean republic. He

fought every avenue to prepare his people for responsibilities associated with governing themselves

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ An Pyong-Uk. "Dosan: The Man and His Thought", Global Korean Network, 2003-07-24. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. 
  2. ^ "A Brief History of Korean Americans", National Association of Korean Americans, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. 
  3. ^ Dosan Park, Produced by 'Encyber.com'
Persondata
NAME Ahn, Dosan Chang-ho
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 안창호, 安昌浩, 도산, 島山
SHORT DESCRIPTION Korean independence activist and writer.
DATE OF BIRTH 1878-11-09
PLACE OF BIRTH Kangso, Pyeongan, Korea
DATE OF DEATH 1938-03-10
PLACE OF DEATH Seoul, Korea