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Roanoke College holds a unique place in history due to its early engagement with Korea in the 1890s. Situated in southwestern Virginia, this small liberal arts institution played a pivotal role in fostering educational ties between Korea and the United States. Under the leadership of its third president, Dr. Julius Dreher, the college initiated contact with the Korean legation in Washington, D.C., in 1892, extending an invitation for Korean students to study at Roanoke College. Among the notable Korean students who attended during this period were Kim Kyusik (1881–1950), a prominent leader in the Korean Independence Movement; Prince Eui Hwa (Yi Kang, 1877–1955), the fifth son of King Kojong; Yi Kijong, son of Korean minister Yi Pǒmjin (1852–1911) and older brother of Yi Wijong, who was one of the three Korean delegates to the Hague Conference in 1907; and Yi Wonn Ick, credited with inventing the first Korean typewriter in 1914. As one of the earliest U.S. institutions to welcome Korean students, Roanoke College has amassed a significant collection of historical documents and artifacts that hold immense value for Korean and Korean American history. The college's archival collection includes records on 34 Korean students from 1894 to 1935, offering invaluable primary sources for studying Korean history, U.S.-Korea relations, and the experiences of early Korean immigrants in America. This project describes the presence of students from Korea at Roanoke College in Salem Virginia in the period from 1888 through 1945. It contains a set of articles and book chapters where the these students are mentioned in the Roanoke Collegian magazine, the Brackety-ack student newspaper, and other sources.The collection is housed in the JSTOR Open Community Collections. This project was conducted with the support of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. |
Early Korean Students
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| Surh, Beung Kiu 서병규 1894-98 |
Whang, Hyen Mo 황현모1895 |
Photo & caption from Dear Old Roanoke/Dr. Mark Miller
