Maria Whang

Maria Whang (1865-1937) was a Korean-American educator and community organizer. In 1913, she became the first leader of the Korean Women's Association in the Territory of Hawaii. Whang was born in Pyongan Province, Korea. In 1905, she emigrated to Hawaii with her daughter and two sons. She was an early educator of plantation children, and she established the Korean Women's Association (Taehan Puinhoe) which merged in 1919 with the Korean Ladies Relief Society.