Real Life Romances: Dosan and Helen

This month in Real Life Romance, I want to talk about Ahn Chang-ho (sometimes spelled Ahn Changho, and better known by his pen name, Dosan) and his wife Hye Ryon Lee (more frequently referred to as Helen, the name she used during her time in the United States). This couple spent most of their marriage apart, but they worked together seamlessly to promote Korean independence from Japan.

Dosan was born in what is now North Korea in 1878. In 1894 he moved to Seoul and attended a missionary school, where he converted to Christianity. Dosan travelled the country promoting independence and teaching at the elementary school he founded – which was also the first co-ed elementary school in Korea.

While much is written about Dosan, less has been written about his wife, Helen. According to dosan.org, she was born in 1884. The marriage was arranged by Helen’s father, who was determined that the marriage happen. Dosan.org says:

Dosan did not want to marry and used the excuse Helen was not Christian. Helen’s father and the whole family converted. Dosan said she was not educated. Helen and Dosan’s sister, Ahn Shin Ho, were sent to Seoul to go to school. There was no obstacle left for Dosan to keep from marrying Helen. Dosan planned to go to America and study Christianity and Western education. He told Helen to wait about ten years for his return. She would have none of that and was determined to marry Dosan and go with him. A few days before they left for Korea they were married by Rev. F.S. Miller at the Severance Hospital site near Sodaemun, Seoul’s South Gate.

 

Dosan was deeply committed to the idea that everyone in Korea should have access to education, including girls. He and Helen moved to San Francisco in 1902, just before Japan occupied Korea, and Dosan actually attended kindergarten as a student for a while so that he could study English and the American school system. According to The New World Encyclopedia, they were the first Korean couple to immigrate to the US, and Dosan took his name from the mountains of Hawaii. ‘Dosan’ means “mountain of knowledge.”

Dosan and Helen became leaders of the Korean American community. Dosan organized citrus grove workers and founded the Chinmoke Hoe Society and the Mutual Assistance Society. Helen worked as a domestic to support the family financially. She also had five children and kept a steady supply of food on hand to feed the endless stream of Korean Americans who came for support and advice.

In 1926, Dosan left for China so that he could assist with the Korean Independence Movement. He never returned to America. From that point on, Helen raised the children as a single parent, continued to support Korean immigrants through organizational work (she was especially involved with the Young Korean Academy and the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association) and sent most of the money she earned as a domestic worker and a field worker to her husband to support the Movement. She was also well known as an excellent counselor who would feed and advise new arrivals to San Francisco.

Dosan travelled around the world campaigning for Korean Independence from Japan. He also worked within Korea itself, where he was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese. He died of illness exacerbated by his imprisonment in 1938.

Dosan’s greatest passion, other than independence, was for education reform and social reform. He promoted a philosophy of sincerity, honesty, an earnest approach to life, and love. His influence as a leader in Korean history cannot be overstated. Trivia alert: he is thought to have co-written the lyrics to the Korean National Anthem.

Dosan and Helen had five children, all of whom were born the US and therefore US citizens. Several of them became actors – their son Philip was especially successful and played villainous Japanese characters in WWII movies. (NB: If you are interested in learning more about him, and about how race affected his acting career, check out the book Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance by Hye Seung Chung.

Daughter Susan Ahn Cuddy became the first Asian American woman to serve in the US Navy and has a considerable legacy as a Kickass Woman in History. She married an Irish American and, as quoted in New World Encyclopedia, explained, “The way to get your relatives to accept your mixed-race marriage is to have kids.”

Dosan has been recognized with parks, streets, and memorials. A Tae Kwan Do form is named after him. Helen, who died in 1969, has lacked that kind of recognition, and yet she was as important a player in Korean Independence and in establishing a Korean American community in the US as Dosan was.

My two primary sources for this post were New World Encyclopedia and Dosan.org. Dosan.org has a ton of photos and links to webpages by and about Dosan and Helen’s descendants. It also includes a copy of the last letter that Dosan sent to Helen from prison. It’s a heartbreaking letter in which Dosan worries about their children and repents of having brought Helen “worries and sorrow.” He acknowledges the cost of his travels, saying, “I feel uneasy beyond description. Especially because I always leave it to you to wrestle alone with caring for our home and family, I feel extremely sorry.” So often great public figures are remembered but the cost to their families is not. In his letter, Dosan acknowledges that his quest for Korea’s freedom was not a solo endeavor. “Love,” he says, “is the very truth of life.”