Young, Anne Austin
Young promoted philanthropy. In Clinton she led efforts to create Whitten Village, a facility for mentally retarded patients.
Physician. Young was born on January 15, 1892, in the Cross Hill community of Laurens County to Robert Austin and Clara Nabers. When she was fourteen years old, she enrolled at Presbyterian College in Clinton, where she graduated with honors. Young briefly taught school and then moved to Philadelphia in 1911 to study at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. After one year the college presented Young with a scholarship recognizing that she had attained the highest scholastic average among students. Young’s professional specialty was obstetrics and gynecology.
After graduation in 1915, Young declined a fellowship offered by the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Instead she returned home to focus her energies on providing quality medical care for the people of South Carolina. Young took the South Carolina Medical Board and achieved the highest score ever tallied on the examination up to that time. On March 31, 1918, she married the physician Charles Henry Young. The couple had one daughter.
The Youngs settled in Anderson County, where they devoted their careers to the Anderson Memorial Hospital, practicing medicine together. During more than sixty years of providing medical services, Young assisted in the delivery of an estimated eleven thousand infants and received praise for her patient care and her service as a mental retardation clinician.
Young promoted philanthropy. In Clinton she led efforts to create Whitten Village, a facility for mentally retarded patients. She donated money to build a medical clinic in Zaire, Africa. Young also wanted to assist the civic advancement of communities in Zaire and gave money to construct three schools and three churches there.
In 1981 Young became the second woman inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. She received numerous other awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate from Columbia College. After her husband died in 1966, Young continued her medical services as long as possible. She died in Anderson on January 25, 1989, and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Klosky, Beth Ann. Daring Venture: A Biography of Anne Austin Young, Pioneer Woman Doctor. Anderson, S.C.: by the author, 1978.
Obituary. Anderson Independent-Mail, January 26, 1989, p. A1.
