PHILIP K. CHOI 최경식
(1902-1932)
Period of study: 1929-1932
Major: Sociology
Thesis: The Urban Problem of Korea Under Japanese Régime (MA 1928, Northwestern University)
Work & Experiences
- PhD student in Sociology (1929-1932)
- MA in Sociology, Northwestern University (1929)
- Cabinet member, International Students’ Association (1929-1930)
- Secretary, Korean Student Federation of North America (1929-1931)
- Editor, The Rocky
- Member, Chicago Korean Student League
- Passed away at Billings Hospital, March 1, 1932
Philip K. Choi was born in 1902 in the town of P’yŏngwŏn in South P’yŏngan Province. He graduated from the literature department of Yonhi College in 1924 and arrived in the US in 1926. While attending Yonhi College, Philip K. Choi served as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Korean Students’ Association (Chosŏn Haksaenghoe). The Korean Students’ Association began in 1922 as an enlightenment group focused on promoting student solidarity. It was one of many organizations to emerge following the nationwide expansion of student-centered organizations during the March 1st Independence Movement.
After receiving an MA in Sociology from Northwestern University (1929), Philip K. Choi joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago in order to pursue his doctoral degree. He participated in a variety of student activities, including serving as Korean Representative and Cabinet Member of the International Students’ Association, Secretary of the Korean Student Federation of North America, Editor of The Rocky, and member of the Chicago Korean Student League. In December of 1929, while serving as Korean representative and cabinet member of the International Students’ Association, Philip K. Choi successfully hosted a “Korean Night” event at Ida Noyes Hall. In addition to editorial duties at The Rocky, Choi also contributed academic papers to the magazine.
Philip K. Choi was unable to complete his doctoral degree. In 1932, the promising young student passed away from a heart attack at the age of 30. A funeral was held on March 3, 1932 at Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago, marking the first memorial service for a Korean immigrant to Chicago. Because it was the first, many Korean residents of the city were in attendance to offer condolences. At the service, Hongki Karl, minister and a former classmate of Choi’s at the University of Chicago, served as officiant, and Chicago church minister Dr. Charles Whitney offered a sermon. Later Hongki Karl reminisced that the funeral represented both a day in which all Koreans, regardless of factional belonging and cliques, gathered their strength together in order to comfort the soul of a young man who passed away too soon in a foreign land, and a deeply moving event of brotherly love.
