Tubman Museum director booted from Stockbridge amphitheater management job

Harold Young, executive director of The Tubman African American History Museum in downtown Macon, was recently ousted by the Stockbridge City Council following allegations he breached a more than $180,000 annual contract with Stockbridge to manage its amphitheater.  

Young started working at the Tubman Museum in 2015 as its events manager. In 2021, he was appointed the executive director of the museum by its 21-member board. 

Messages left for Tubman Museum board chairperson Billy Pitts and vice chairperson Carl Tims were unreturned. Another board member reached by phone said they were aware of Young’s work in Stockbridge but had no comment.

Young managed the Stockbridge amphitheater for a few years until June 16, 2025, when Stockbridge City Council voted to terminate his contract, which allowed him to keep 5% of sponsorship revenue in addition to the contract amount. The city’s financial records show the amphitheater has operated at a loss and exceeded its budget by millions of dollars in recent years.

Young told The Melody he is looking into “legal remedies” because the City of Stockbridge did not cite a reason for ending its contract with him. 

In a video from a Stockbridge city council meeting in May, Young told council members he has been in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years and “my name has now been slandered and I have to get an attorney.” 

Questions about profits and losses for the city’s venue are at the center of an ongoing whirlwind of political drama among Stockbridge City Council members who’ve recently filed ethics complaints against each other alleging corruption, illegal conduct and unethical behavior.

Late last month, the Stockbridge city council voted to amend its budget by $32.9 million to account for “mismanagement” of funds, according to a July article in the Henry Herald. Notes from a meeting in November show the Stockbridge council voted to transfer a half million from its general budget to the amphitheater to pay artists for concerts that were rained out. 

Young, from Los Angeles, moved to Macon in 2008 to work as a music minister at Community Church of God. He worked in media sales and later as a gospel DJ on Praise 99.5 FM. 

Asked how Young managed two jobs, Young told The Melody he worked for Stockbridge’s amphitheater part-time and only at night. He said it was “no secret” to the Stockbridge City Council members or the Tubman Museum’s board of directors that he was working both jobs. 

Stockbridge’s city records show he regularly used his Tubman Museum-issued email address to conduct business for the amphitheater during business hours and on weekdays.  

The most recent annual tax filing for The Tubman shows the museum paid Young $70,545 yearly plus $5,640 in benefits in 2023. Tax filings also show the Tubman Museum has operated on a deficit budget since 2016. Two fundraising events held in 2023 wound up netting a $8,260 loss for the museum.

Young also is working with the Oak View Group, which manages Macon’s amphitheater, coliseum and city auditorium, to promote a show in October for Central Georgia Technical College’s homecoming, the company confirmed via email.