HARRY WHANG 황창하

Graduation year: 1926

Major: Commerce 

Work & Experiences 

  • Studied at Hyde Park High School
  • Member, International Student Association
  • Member, Foreign Student Council
  • Member, Korean Student Federation of North America
  • Business Manager and Secretary, The Korean Student Federation of North America (1923-1924, 1925-1927)
  • Founding member, Korean Club of the University of Chicago (1924)
  • President, Korean Student League of Chicago (1924)
  • Editorial Board and contributor, The Rocky (1924-1925)
  • MA Education, Columbia University (1929)
  • Secretary, Editor, Korean Student Bulletin (ca. 1929)
  • Employed at Chase Bank National Bank of New York City (1929-1932)
  • Founder, Collaborative Association of Korean Residents in New York (1930)
  • Lecturer of the Far East and Japanese Languages, Selfridge Air National Guard Base (1943)
  • Founder and President, Korean American Community of Metro Detroit (1965-1967)

Harry Whang was born in Pyongyang and arrived in the US from France in 1920 to begin his study abroad. After studying at Hyde Park High School, Whang enrolled at the University of Chicago where he graduated with a BA in Commerce in 1926. Based on the 1927 Cap & Gown (the University’s annual graduation album), it is clear that Harry Whang participated in a diverse range of student activities: the International Student Association, the Korean Club of the U of C, the Foreign Student Council, the YMCA, and the Korean Student Federation of North America. He was one of the founding members of the Korean Club in 1924. The Club held weekly Sunday meetings where they would study papers related to their majors as well as holding lectures and parties. 

Harry Whang was a main writer for both the Korean Student Bulletin and The Rocky. Harry Whang also published academic papers on economics in The Rocky.

After completing his BA, Harry Whang relocated to New York, where he received a Master’s in Education from Columbia University (1929) before taking a position at the New York Branch of Chase Bank. His roommate at the time was the Korean American writer Yongkill Kang, about whose novel The Grass Roof, Whang would write and publish a review in the Korean Student Bulletin. As a founding member of the Collaborative Association of Korean Residents in New York in 1930, he helped pen “The Korean Manifesto Against the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria,” and distribute English versions of the brochure for major institutions around the world, including the US. Additionally, upon founding the Korean Culture Society of students in New York in 1931, Harry Whang participated in diverse forms of patriotic activism, including holding the position of director in the Society, partaking in diplomatic activities, presenting written declarations at rallies, and sponsoring the Korean independence army. 

After a brief homecoming to Korea in 1933, Harry Whang returned to the US. He married Helen Lee in 1934 and began operating a dish gardening business in Detroit. A 1950 issue of University of Chicago Magazine includes an interview with Whang regarding the business. The same year, he traveled to Hawaii as part of a Korean diplomatic delegation alongside John Myeon Jang, the first Korean ambassador to the US. After establishing a livelihood in Detroit, Harry Whang would go on to found the Korean American Community of Metro Detroit in 1965, of which he served as the first president from 1965-1967.