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Reverend Andrew Young

born 1932 New Orleans, Louisiana; lives Atlanta, Georgia

BiographyIn 1951 Reverend Andrew Young gained a bachelor's degree in biology from Howard University before he was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Christ in 1955. In 1957 he served as the pastor of the Bethany Congregational Church in Thomasville, Georgia before joining the National Council of the Churches of Christ in America in New York. In 1957 Young met in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and in 1961 he moved to Atlanta to join the Highlander Folk School Citizenship Training Program. In 1963 Young was a key figure in the Birmingham Campaign. In 1964 Young became the executive director of the SCLC. In 1970 he left the organization to run for congress but failed, in 1972 he won and represented his own district Georgia seat. He was appointed to the United Nations by President Jimmy Carter before being pressured to resign in 1979. In 1981 Young was awarded the Congressional Medal of Freedom and served as mayor of Atlanta from 1982-1990.

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