Andrew Young

Vocation

Notable

Family

American Protestant minister, civil rights activist and public official. Young was the first African-American to represent Georgia in Congress since 1871 and has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Born into an affluent background, his father, a dentist and his mother, a school teacher, were always very supportive of Andrew and his brother Walter. The importance of religion and education was learned at an early age and Andrew, being small, knew that it was better to be smart than strong. At age 15, he graduated from Gilbert Academy, a private school. Andrew attended a year at Dillard University, then in 1947 transferred to Howard University in Washington, DC, graduating at 19 with a bachelor of science degree. Volunteering to work for six months with the United Christian Youth Movement, he decided he wanted to be a minister. In 1952 Young attended Hartford Theological Seminary and when he was assigned to Marion, Alabama for a summer project he met his wife-to-be. Andrew received his bachelor of divinity degree in 1955. After preaching in Georgia, helping people to vote was his next endeavor. In August 1961 Young moved to Atlanta to work with Martin Luther King, Jr. becoming his right hand man and gaining a sense of mission. He was with King when King was assassinated. Elected to congress in Georgia's fifth district in 1972, 1974 and 1976, Young vacated his seat when President Jimmy Carter asked him to be ambassador to the United Nations. He resigned from this post in 1979 and returned to Atlanta, running for mayor and being elected in 1981 and 1985. He was unsuccessful in his bid as governor in 1990 but took the co-chairmanship of the Atlanta Organizing Committee for the Centennial Olympic Games. He has made friends all over the world, especially in South Africa. Young published his memoir, "An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America," in spring 1997. An emotional man, he cries easily for joy or sadness. He has as well, an eye condition, blepharitis, which produces copious tearing. Young met his future wife, Jean Childs, while on a summer community project in 1952. They were married 6/07/1954 and raised four children, three daughters and a son born in 1973. They were married over 40 years when she died of liver cancer in 1994. He remarried 18 months later saying he was not good at dating and felt he needed the relationship. Link to Wikipedia biography