Independence Activists of the Month: Three Activists from Canada Selected

Oliver Al Abbison, Robert Grierson, Stanley Haviland Martin Teachers

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Regional Veterans Office announced on the 2nd that Oliver R. Avison (1860?1956), Robert Grierson (1868?1965), and Stanley Haviland Martin (1870?1941), all Canadian-born, were selected as the Independence Activists of September by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

Oliver R. Avison served as the director of Jejungwon in 1895 and devoted himself to combating cholera. In 1904, he became the director of Severance Hospital and Medical School, and in 1916, he took the position of principal at Yonhi Professional School, dedicating himself to medical education.

After the March 1st Movement, he attended missionary meetings as a representative to inform the international community about Korea's situation. Even after returning to the United States in 1935, he actively appealed to the great powers for recognition of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and support for the Korean independence movement.

Robert Grierson established Jedong Hospital and a church in Seongjin, Hamgyeongbuk-do in 1901, treating many patients, and founded Bosin School and Hyupsin School to promote patriotic enlightenment movements.

He collaborated with Lee Dong-hwi, a captain in the Korean Empire army, in educational and cultural movements, and treated numerous injured people during the March 1st Movement in 1919.

Stanley Haviland Martin served as the director of Jechang Hospital in Yongjeong, Jilin Province, China, from 1913, where he engaged in medical missionary work. On March 13, 1919, he treated casualties of the Independence March, and provided the hospital and its annex buildings as gathering and lodging places for Korean independence activists, as well as locations for printing independence movement propaganda materials.

In October 1920, he visited the affected areas of the Gyeongsin Incident, including Jangam-dong, to investigate and photograph the damage to Koreans, and compiled a report exposing the brutal massacres by the Japanese military to the international community.

In 1927, he was appointed as a professor at Severance Medical School and a physician at its affiliated hospital, dedicating himself to combating tuberculosis, a chronic disease among the youth, before leaving Korea in 1940.

To honor their contributions, the government awarded Oliver R. Avison the Order of Independence Merit in 1952, and posthumously awarded the same order to Robert Grierson and Stanley Haviland Martin in 1968.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.