The Faces of Gwangju: Activists 》The Young Women of Speer Girls’ School and the Independence Movement

Story

Speer Memorial Girls' School was founded in 1908 by the missionary Eugene Bell. The school's first principal was Ella Graham. Later principals included Mary Dodson, Anna McQueen, Margaret Martin, Florence Root, and Kim Pil-rye. In 1937, Principal Root shut down the school herself in protest against imperial Japan's forced worship of Shinto shrines. The school reopened after Korea's liberation in 1945. In 1951, the school was split into a middle and high school.
The young women of Speer were active participants in the anti-Japanese independence movement.
The students participated in the March 1 Movement of 1919, with 22 students being arrested. Among them, teacher Bak Ae-sun and student Yun Hyeong-suk led the demonstrations.
The schools students participated in the pro-independence Gwangju Students Movement of 1929. The movement began in November 1929 and lasted until March 1930. It is considered one of the three major independence movements of the colonial period, along with the March 1 Movement and the June 10 Movement of 1926.
At the time of the movement, the students of Speer had formed an underground independence gathering named Baekcheongdan. When this was later discovered in 1933, those involved were imprisoned, including Jo A-ra.

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S2023-217c	Story	Episode		The Young Women of Speer Girls’ School and the Independence Movement			The Young Women of Speer Girls’ School and the Independence Movement	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/wiki/index.php/S2023-217c	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/icon/episode.png