Meritorious Service Record

Floyd Williams Tomkins was a minister of the Episcopal Church in the United States who actively supported the Korean independence movement by organizing the League of the Friends of Korea following the March 1st Movement in 1919.
In April 1919, he was invited as a speaker at the First Korean Congress in Philadelphia, where he delivered a speech in support of Korea’s independence. The following month, he co-founded the League of the Friends of Korea alongside Seo Jae-pil (Philip Jaisohn) and became its first president.
In June 1919, during a meeting in Washington, D.C., the League adopted a resolution condemning Japan’s anti-Christian and inhumane acts, while also working to raise awareness of Korea’s plight through public rallies and diplomatic efforts.
In May 1920, Tomkins led a major gathering of the League of the Friends of Korea in Philadelphia, where attendees denounced Japan’s atrocities and formally petitioned the U.S. President and Senate to mediate on Korea’s behalf.
Ahead of the Washington Naval Conference in November 1921, he represented 25,000 League members in submitting a petition to U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, urging Korea’s independence to be included as a key agenda item. The League also held a public rally in Philadelphia, passing a resolution demanding the U.S. government’s intervention in Korean affairs.
In November 1923, following the Kantō Massacre, where thousands of Koreans were killed by Japanese mobs and authorities in the aftermath of the Great Kantō Earthquake, Tomkins submitted a formal protest to the U.S. Secretary of State, along with documentary evidence of the killings.
The South Korean government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Patriotic Medal) in 2015 for his contributions to Korea’s independence movement.