What is it about Koreans in America who have a penchant for being the first at anything and everything? Being first seems to be the prime motivation for many, even in areas where being first has very little meaning. This path to firsts can blind the seekers from even better and more profound truths. Let’s look at some recent efforts that show you what I am thinking.

For instance, some Korean-American groups subscribe to the idea that the 102 Koreans who arrived in Hawaii aboard a steamboat named S.S. Gaelic in 1903 were the “first Korean immigrants” in America. The “Centennial Committee of Korean American immigration” went through a lot of trouble in 2013 to celebrate the 100-plus years of Korean immigration in America, obtaining proclamations as such from the US Congress and various state assemblies across America. For some reason, these committee members were obsessed with creating the dramatic “first,” and they seem to have convinced many historians and scholars that it is indeed the case.

However, you should ask, what about those Koreans who arrived in America before 1903? The committee members have an answer for that. They say that those who arrived in America prior to 1903 were just students and ginseng merchants, and not “real” immigrants. Really!

They created “real” immigrants and “not-real” immigrants just to make a point about S.S. Gaelic and its passengers on Jan. 13, 1903. I ask, what is the point of distinguishing “real” immigrants from “not-real” immigrants? Aren’t they all immigrants?

The mythmakers of the “real” Korean immigration are no different from those who claim that Columbus “discovered” America. What about those people who were living in America before Columbus? Were they not the people who discovered the continent first before Columbus stepped on these shores?

Recently, the city of Riverside, California, passed a resolution, naming what used to be labor camp Pachappa the “first Korean settlement” on the US mainland. I fail to see the purpose of such a claim, especially when it is historically incorrect. Further, they say that this settlement was founded by Ahn Chang-Ho, also known by his penname Dosan.

Ahn and his wife Lee Hye-Ryon arrived in San Francisco in 1902 with the intention of studying the American educational system and then returning to their native Korea. A genius organizer, orator, and visionary, Dosan formed a number of organizations to improve the lives of his fellow Koreans in San Francisco and Riverside as a young man at age 25. He organized the Korean community San Francisco in 1903 by forming the Mutual Friendship Association. In so doing, he devised a system involving community meetings and kept meticulous records of dates and activities, which is now kept at Dosan Memorial Foundation in Seoul, Korea.

Then Dosan wen to Riverside in 1904 and organized Korean citrus workers there, mainly the Pachappa labor camp, which Riverside claims is the “first Korean settlement” on the US mainland. Riverside argues that the Korean community in San Francisco was not a “real” one because it comprised just ginseng merchants and students who lived there at the time, and that San Francisco was a stopover port city, not a real community. Riverside also argues that Dosan had lived there from 1903 to 1913.

If that were true, Dosan would have created and left behind a mountain of historical materials, similar to the Mutual Friendship Association records. When you study the historical data related to Dosan’s life and work, you find that the majority of materials hailed from elsewhere, with only a dearth of historical records emanating from Riverside. For instance, most of the letters to and from Dosan during the said period were from San Francisco, where the Korean independence movement was headquartered.

The truth of the matter is that Dosan did not spend that much time in Riverside. After spending almost a year in Riverside, he went back to San Francisco, formed the United Korean Association and published Kong Lip Shinbo, a weekly newspaper that was distributed all across North America and East Asia. San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake burned down his office, forcing him to move across the bay to Oakland, California, where he continued to publish Kong Lip Shinbo. In early 1907, he went to Korea and became a leader of the independence movement in the struggle against the Japanese takeover of Korea. He became a target for persecution there and was exiled to America following the Japanese annexation of Korea. In late 1911, he went to Riverside briefly, where his wife and son Philip lived. After a month in Riverside, he went on a tour of Korean communities up and down California, where fellow Koreans eagerly waited to hear him speak about the latest news from their home country. He returned to Riverside and worked as a laborer, but not for long. His presence was in demand at Korean National Association headquarters in San Francisco. In January 1912, he formed North American Industrial Company with a group of Koreans and sold shares to the community members.

Come January 1913, citrus business in the Riverside region collapsed due to a severe freeze, and Korean workers moved on to Los Angeles, and so on. This was about the time Dosan was busy founding the Young Korean Academy in San Francisco and recruiting and training future leaders of the independence movement. He and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 1914.

As I pointed out earlier, Dosan was a well-traveled man, and didn’t spend much time in Riverside. Yet, the city council granted itself the title of “first Korean settlement” based on the exaggerated accounts of revisionists and misinformed historians regarding Dosan’s presence in Riverside. This was all about serving its self-interest in enhancing Riverside’s historical significance. It is truly disingenuous at best -- the real history is much more impressive and revealing. 


By John H. Cha

John H. Cha writes in Oakland, California. He has written several biographies about Korean and American leaders, including “Willow Tree Shade: The Susan Ahn Cuddy Story,” “The Do or Die Entrepreneur” and “Exit Emperor Kim Jong-il.” ― Ed.