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Historical Ruminations

Savannah’s and Savannahians contributions to our country are often overlooked by us. Robin Williams, a professor and chair of the Architectural History Department at SCAD, says although Savannah is small it punches out of its weight class. He compared it to a welter weight who can punch and fight in the heavy weight division. The posts in this section will look at some of the ways that this is true.
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Here is Michael Freeman's new book on Savannah. It tells a story not often told of the Creeks and the Native American Creeks who lived in Savannah during its founding. You might  even  say Tomochichi and Mary Musgrove were co-founders of Georgia. 

Dr. K. C. Wu a Savannah Professor

4/21/2018

4 Comments

 
PictureDr. K. C. Wu on the cover of Time magazine after he became Governor of Taiwan
​The Chinese in Savannah have been here in force ever since 1889 when the first Chinese ‘settler’ Chung Ta-Ping came by way of San Francisco. Since then the Chinese have been doctors, teachers, and business leaders in Savannah. The Savannah Chinese population has produced one poet of note, Gerald Chan Seig, whose works were published in the New Yorker among other places. But one of the most famous of Savannah’s Chinese population was Dr. K. C. Wu. He was the former Mayor of Shanghai and the former Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government. He spent most of his life in China striving for a more democratic country.

He was born in Beijing. He went to High School and then Tsinghua University in China. He earned, in 1923, a master's degree in economics from Grinnell College followed by doctoral degree in political science from Princeton University. Upon his return to China he would marry Edith Huang in 1931 and become Mayor of Hankow the next year. He would prove his mettle as Mayor in 1936 by overseeing a large dike system that would prevent the Yangtze River from flooding the city.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wu and his family fled to Chungking. In 1939, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as mayor of Chungking, a position he held until 1942. He served as vice minister of Foreign Affairs from 1943-1945. He, with his former high school classmate Zhou Enlai, were part of a united front against the Japanese.

Proving his patriotism in time of war led to his appointment as mayor of Shanghai in 1943 and he served in that role until the Chinese Communists conquered the city in 1949. Wu, who was part of the Nationalist government, fled to Taipei where he served as Governor of Taiwan from 1949 to 1953. Wu, the constant reformer, attempted to bring a greater degree of self-governance to the Taiwanese people, allowing for the election of certain local officials by popular vote.

Wu, during this time as Governor of Taiwan, came into direct conflict with Chiang Kai-shek’s son. This conflict is thought to be at the core of an April 1952 alleged assassination attempt on Wu’s life. Having already offered his resignation to Chiang Kai Shek he offered it again in 1953 and this time Shek accepted it.  After his resignation was accepted he went on a ‘lecture tour’ as a premise to get his family and himself out of the country. Wu was charged with corruption after his departure and his associates were removed from office. That same year, Wu wrote an article in Look magazine entitled "Your Money is Building a Police State in Taiwan."

The United States at that time was trying to develop an alliance with the new Taiwanese government. They were not interested in challenging it. This caused Wu to realize his voice was not going to be heard. He immigrated to the United States and became professor of Chinese history at Savannah’s Armstrong State University.

Wu never gave up his advocacy for Taiwan. He continued to call on the Chinese Nationalist Assembly to enact reforms such as an end of one- party rule in Taiwan, and the establishment of greater guarantees of individual rights. He did this primarily through his writings, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.

Dr. Wu would teach at Armstrong State University for over twenty-five years. While teaching at Armstrong he was the second recipient of the H. Dean Propst Award in 1971. The Propst award is given by the students to a professor who exemplified good teaching. He died in 1984 in his home here in Savannah.

Wu is one of the many folks who came to Savannah in the final years of their lives. He also was one of the many Chinese who have contributed to the cultural and intellectual environs of our city. 


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Dr. K. C. Wu in his library
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Wu with his family
4 Comments
Daniel A Brown
7/2/2022 11:08:29 am

Armstrong 1974 BA History. Took every class Dr Wu taught in my time at ASU Spring 1971 to graduation in June 1974. It was a real experience to hear history from someone who actually made history. I never found his insights to be in error. He told us "Someday you will question whether or not you should have dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan. Those who say this will not understand how the Japanese Government worked." He was absolutely right. I never saw him lost for words except the day he came to class after winning the Propst Award. What a terrific teacher.

Reply
Lodge
12/25/2022 12:14:50 pm

Thanks for sharing Daniel. Do you remember if Dr. Wu ever talked about going back to China or Taiwan? Was curious how he thought about the ROC government at the time when you had him

Reply
Daniel A Brown
12/25/2022 12:30:43 pm

Dr Wu seldom talked about Taiwan. The only memory I have is the story he told about his flight from that country. How his chauffeur discovered the cut brake line on his car when they stopped for a meal. I took every course he taught fron 1971 to 1974 when I graduated. I consider him the professor from whom I learned the most.




Reply
Lodge
12/25/2022 12:38:52 pm

Gotcha, cool. I actually been to the house where he lived when he was mayor of Shanghai from 1946-49. Sure brings back good memories of China when it was free. I think if he was alive today, he would def go back to Taiwan and support the democratic progressive party. Def was ahead of his time politically there

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