Andrew Young

==Early career==

Young was appointed to serve as pastor of a church in [[Marion, Alabama]]. It was there in Marion that he met [[Jean Childs Young|Jean Childs]], who later became his wife. Young became interested in [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s concept of [[nonviolent]] resistance as a tactic for social change. He encouraged African Americans to register to vote in Alabama, and sometimes faced death threats while doing so. It was at this time that he became a friend and ally of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]

In 1955 he accepted a pastorate at [[Bethany Congregational Church (Thomasville, Georgia)|Bethany Congregational Church]] in [[Thomasville, Georgia]].<ref>[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/andrew-young-b-1932 Biography] in [[New Georgia Encyclopedia]]</ref>

In 1957, Young and Jean moved to New York City when he accepted a job with the Youth Division of the [[National Council of Churches]]. While in New York City, Young regularly appeared on ''Look Up and Live'', a weekly Sunday morning television program on [[CBS]], produced by the National Council of Churches in an effort to reach out to secular youth.<ref name=templetons />

Young served as a pastor of the [[Evergreen Congregational Church and School|Evergreen Congregational Church]] in [[Beachton, Georgia]], from 1957 to 1959.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=02001260}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Evergreen Congregational Church and School |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Steven H. Moffson and Mishie M. Bryant |date=September 1, 2002 |access-date=March 6, 2017 }} with {{NRHP url|id=02001260|photos=y|title=18 photos}} (see photo captions pages 14-15 of text document)</ref>

In 1960, he joined the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]].<ref name=deroche-cosmopolitan-christian-young /> No longer satisfied with his work in New York City, Young moved to [[Atlanta]], Georgia, in 1961 upon the invitation of [[Bernard Lafayette]] and worked to register black voters. Young played a key role in the 1963 events in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the white and black communities as they negotiated against a background of protests.

In 1964, Young was named executive director of the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]. As a colleague and friend of Martin Luther King Jr., he was a strategist and negotiator during the Civil Rights Campaigns in [[Birmingham campaign|Birmingham]] (1963), [[St. Augustine Movement|St. Augustine]] (1964), [[Selma to Montgomery march|Selma]] (1965), and Atlanta (1966). He was jailed for his participation in civil rights demonstrations, both in [[Selma, Alabama|Selma]], Alabama, and in [[Saint Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], Florida. The movement gained congressional passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. Young was with King in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], Tennessee, when [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|King was assassinated]] in 1968.<ref name=lat-12212012 />