Born in Americus, Ga., in the segregated South, he always knew he wanted to be a physician. He attended Fort Valley State College, Alabama State College for Negroes, and Atlanta School of Mortuary Science. He applied to several medical schools and was rejected. Later, he met a black physician, a DO, who encouraged him to apply to osteopathic medical schools. He applied to and graduated from the Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy. He interned at Flint Osteopathic Hospital, did exceedingly well, and applied for a surgical residency. He was turned down. He had offers to enter practice in Flint, Michigan, but his wife Norma reminded him that black physicians were needed back in Georgia.

They settled in Albany, Ga., where his practice thrived. However, the civil rights movement was underway, and he found himself elected as leader and first president of the Albany Movement, 1961–63. He and his family survived threats by the Klan, but under his leadership, the Albany Movement was joined by the NAACP, CORE, and the SCLC. He also recruited Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Andrew Young to demonstrate with them. They became and remained lifelong friends. Dr. Anderson had previously met Rev. Abernathy as a student in Alabama, and he was introduced to MLK, Jr. by his wife, who grew up across the street from the King family. Years later, Dr. Anderson was on the telephone with Coretta King, Dr. King’s wife, when Dr. King was shot and killed in Memphis.

After leaving practice in Georgia, he once again applied for a surgical residency and was accepted at Art Centre Hospital in Detroit. During his residency, he was summoned to appear in federal court on charges of obstruction of justice. He, along with Drs. King and Abernathy, had been arrested and jailed together in Albany. In court, he was sentenced to 20 years but released on “one year’s probation without supervision.”