Wright Hotel, Raleigh, NC

Source: Tabitha Marie DiVisconti Papers, East Carolina Manuscript Collection #480

Lobby of Wright Hotel, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Staff Person: Brian Johnson

Description:
This image is of the lobby of the Wright Hotel in Raleigh, NC. The woman in this photo is Sue May DeVisconti. Seated next to her is her husband, Benjamin Streeter Sheppard Jr.. One point of interest is that, as I recall, the style of shoes she is wearing in this photo was quite popular in the mid 1990’s.

Sue May DeVisconti (1893-1946) attended St. Mary’s College in Raleigh, N.C. (1911-1912), and then married Benjamin Streeter Sheppard, Jr., in 1912. They moved to Florida where Sheppard was employed as an insurance agent. In 1920 they purchased the Wright Hotel in Raleigh, which they operated and then sold in 1924. They traveled throughout the Midwest and West, reaching California in 1926, and then returned to Raleigh to start a real estate business. In 1934, the Sheppards moved back to Farmville, where her sister, Tabitha Marie DeVicsonti, was the librarian.

This photo and many others can be found in the Manuscript Collection in the Special Collections department. The finding aid for this location can be found at Manuscript Collection #480