Civil rights icon Andrew Young — a former ambassador, congressman, mayor of Atlanta and member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle — is returning to the southern Georgia city where he first became a pastor in 1955
THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Civil rights icon Andrew Young — former ambassador, congressman, mayor of Atlanta and member of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle — is returning to the south Georgia city where he first became a pastor in 1955.
Young was announced as the star guest at Thursday night’s opening a traveling exhibitionaptly named “The Many Lives of Andrew Young,” in Thomasville. The event will be held at an arts center not far from Bethany Congregational Church, the historic church where he became a pastor before joining King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The exhibit, produced by the National Monuments Foundation, chronicles Young’s life through photographs, memorabilia and his own words. It is based on a book of the same name by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs.
Young also served as a pastor in neighboring Grady County before joining the SCLC. While working with King, Young helped organize civil rights marches in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama, and in St. Augustine, Florida. He was with King when King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
In 1972, Young was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 5th District, becoming the first black Georgian to serve in Congress since Reconstruction. He served as ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter and was mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990.