Ledonia Wright

On January 5, 1930, the home of Fairley and Sara Smith was filled with joy. Ledonia, the youngest of the three Smith children, had been born.

Destined to contribute greatly to the advancement of her people, Ledonia Wright began to demonstrate her commitment to excellence in education in the Rockingham Public Schools where she completed her education with honors.  She matriculated to Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.  There she continued her pursuit of excellence and graduated magna cum laude.  She earned a master of science degree in public health at North Carolina Central University, again graduating with honors.

While developing a career in public health, Ledonia continued her academic development.  She attended seminars at Yale and Boston Universities and initiated doctoral studies in public health at the University of North Carolina.  Her career in health education was dynamic and includes the following credits:

Junior Clinical Biochemist and Cancer Research Associate
Roswell Park Memorial Institute
Buffalo, New York

Assistant Director of Health Education,
Erie County Health Department
Buffalo, New York

Chief Admitting Officer,
Tufts University School of Medicine and Boston Dispensary
Boston, Massachusetts

Specialist in Public Health Education and Community Organization,
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School Laboratory of Community Psychiatry
Boston, Massachusetts

Chief of Governmental and Private Sector Relations in the Office of Economic
Opportunity,
Boston, Massachusetts

Associate Professor of Community Health,
East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina

Her entire career was spent finding ways to ease human misery and raise the level of aspiration among those with whom she worked.  She believed that excellence in ones chosen profession could be achieved.  Ms. Wright was also the advisor to the Society of United Liberal Students (SOULS) and tried to make a difference for black students at ECU.  Although she died in 1976, her efforts did not go unnoticed.  In 1979, the former "Y" Hut on campus was renamed the Ledonia S. Wright Afro-American Cultural Center, and a scholarship was named in her honor. In 1995, the Cultural Center relocated to the Bloxton House near the Mendenhall Student Center.