The Lee Hoe-yeong Memorial Hall is newly opened in downtown Seoul's Sajik-dong, July 25. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg

Between 1897 and 1938, 74 single women were sent as missionaries to Korea by the women's organizations within the Methodist Episcopal Church (South). Josephine Eaton Peel (1853-1920) was the first among them to set foot on this land.

Born in the town of Waco, Texas, to Bryant Lorenzo Peel, a minister of the church, little information has been recorded concerning her early years. She became "Mrs. Campbell" upon marrying Rev. Alonzo M. Campbell, with whom she would have a son and daughter. However, tragedy struck in 1885 when her husband died from illness, followed by her children just a short time later.

Only 33 years old and having already experienced such misfortune, Campbell enlisted as an overseas missionary. She was dispatched to China and served at mission hospitals in Shanghai and Suzhou for the next decade.

In 1895, the church made the decision to enter Korea. Bishop E.R Hendrix and Dr. C.F. Reid, who had been working in China, arrived first with the help of the nobleman Yoon Chi-ho, who in that year returned to political office as vice minister of education. By 1897, the church sent Campbell to Korea as it was especially keen to spread the gospel to local women and girls. Campbell invited Dora Yu, one of China's first cross-cultural missionaries, to join her as she had become something of a daughter to her.

As her church's first woman missionary in Korea, Campbell was at the forefront of evangelistic activities involving women. She practiced medicine, preached the gospel and trained indigenous Koreans to work as Bible women. Campbell was also involved in establishing mission stations in places including Wonsan, Chuncheon, Gaeseong and Cheorwon. Perhaps her greatest legacy is the Baehwa Girls' School (originally the Carolina School), which she founded in 1889. The school moved in 1915 to its current location at Pirundae-ro in Jongno District.

Vines grow on one of two houses at Campbell's estate in central Seoul's Sajik-dong, July 25. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg

The house where Campbell lived during her years in Seoul is one of the few Western-style residences in the city to have survived until the present day. On July 17, public access to the property became possible once again. For years, the iron gates had been locked up tight as legal battles played out over the redevelopment of Sajik-dong District 2, where it is located.

Redevelopment of this area was first promoted in 2005, and an implementation plan was approved in 2012. The presence of Campbell's house was one of the main obstacles to proceeding with the project. The plan was eventually suspended during the mayorship of Park Won-soon on the grounds of the house's heritage value and cultural significance.

After it was transferred from private ownership to the area's redevelopment association, the Campbell property was purchased by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in November 2017 for 23.5 billion won. The two buildings on the site were then registered as an architectural asset in 2019. They are presumed to have been built in the early 1900s and were renovated to their current appearance in 1948. While it had been common for missionary residences to have been constructed using red brick, these buildings uniquely use granite stones.

Visitors to the property might be surprised to find that Campbell's name is no longer attached to it, nor is it mentioned on the informational labels inside the one restored building. The space has been reborn as a "beotjib," a place for citizens to gather.

Additionally, it accommodates a memorial hall previously at Yejang-dong near Mount Nam, dedicated to Udang Lee Hoe-yeong (1867-1932). Ironically, Lee was a descendant of mid-Joseon official Lord Oseong (Lee Hang-bok, 1556-1618), whose historic house was located on the current site of the Baehwa School. Lee Hoe-yeong, however, is especially remembered as an independence hero who founded the Shinheung Military Academy, a forerunner to the Korea Military Academy.

The Lee Hoe-yeong Memorial Hall is newly opened in downtown Seoul's Sajik-dong, July 25. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg

Lee's was one of five busts located at the Korea Military Academy in northeastern Seoul that the Yoon Seok Yeol administration planned to relocate last August until public criticism erupted. Ahead of the National Liberation Day on Aug. 15, Lee Jong-chan, Lee's grandson and head of the Heritage of Korean Independence, suggested his organization would split from the government's official event over the appointment of the Independence Hall of Korea's new director.

A bust of Lee Hoe-yeong on display at his new memorial hall in downtown Seoul's Sajik-dong, July 25. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg

On the ground floor of the old residence is a lounge with seating and beginning at the staircase to the second level is a humble exhibit about the exploits of Lee and his five brothers. A few of Lee's paintings and personal effects are on display.

Portraits of Lee Hoe-yeong and his family members are on on display along a staircase in Lee's newly opened memorial hall in downtown Seoul's Sajik-dong, July 25. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg

From the hillside property, which is still overgrown and unkempt, there is a clear view of Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office, as well as the Baehwa School in the distance. The public will be able to visit freely after the official opening of the memorial hall on Sept. 11, which is the date the three separate provisional governments of Korea (in the Russia Maritime Province, Seoul and Shanghai) unified in 1919.

The Lee Hoe-yeong Memorial Hall is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Monday. Visit leehoeyeong.com for more information.

Jack Greenberg is a recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship, currently pursuing a master's degree at Korea University's Graduate School of International Studies. He is interested in the history of Korean housing and urban development and documents the changing cityscapes across the country in his free time. Follow @jackwgreenberg on Twitter.