Lorraine Toler Art

I became interested in the story of Queen Min while doing historical research of what happened on the Korean Peninsula during my mother’s childhood.  My mother and her family lived under Japanese occupation in North Korea. While I was researching the history of that period I discovered Queen Min (Empress Myeongsong), truly the last Queen of Korea. Min ruled from 1866 to 1895.  Min saw the importance of educating women and was an avid scholar. In 1886 Min founded the Ewha Girls Academy (Ewha Women’s University) with American missionary, Mary Scranton.  Queen Min was a shrewd politician and strongly resisted Japan’s plan to colonize Korea.  Queen Min was forty-three years old when she was assassinated.  In her short life Queen Min became the catalyst for Korea’s strong educational system as well as the modern, international economic powerhouse that Korea is today.