Mrs. Pattie Higgs

Mrs. Pattie Higgs Tourist Home was listed in the Green Book as “Mrs. Pattie Higgs—313 N. Tarboro Street” under “Tourist Homes” in Raleigh from 1952-1954. Mrs. Higgs’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Charles Higgs, also operated a tourist home in Raleigh that was listed in the Green Book from 1952-1960.¹

Mrs. Pattie Lou Gill Higgs began advertising her residence as a tourist home in the Green Book in 1952. Mrs. Higgs married widower James Higgs in 1917 - and, in doing so, became step-mother to Charles Higgs – whose wife ran Mrs. Charles Higgs Tourist Home.²

Pattie Higgs became a widow in 1940. She continued her work as a tailor, dressmaker, and corset maker while running the tourist home. For a brief period she also owned Higgs Sandwich Shop, located at 315 N. Tarboro Street. It is not clear how long she operated the tourist home, but she continued to reside at 313 N. Tarboro Street through the 1970s.³

Mrs. Higgs was active in her church and in her community. She was particularly active in the Rose Bud Garden Club and in First Baptist Church’s Deaconess Board. She was also a Sunday School teacher and a member of the senior choir known for her beautiful singing voice.⁴

Pattie Lou Higgs died in 1985 at the age of 94.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti 

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 54; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 46; Green, 1957 Green Book, 47; Green, 1959 Green Book, 52; Green, 1960 Green Book, 73.
2. Charles A. Higgs and Gertrude H. Tucker, October 15, 1919, Wake County, North Carolina Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; (“Charles A. Higgs” (obituary), The News and Observer, August 22, 1954, p. 10, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Pattie L. Higgs,” 313 Tarboro Street, Ward 2, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, 1920 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com. 
3.  Hill’s Raleigh City Directories, 1933-1953, alphabetical listing, street listing; “Club News,” The Carolinian, November 18, 1976, p. 9, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn99061519/1976-11-18/ed-1/seq-9/…;
4. “First Baptist’s Deaconesses Elect Mrs. Higgs for 3rd Term,” The Carolinian, March 20, 1965, p. 2, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn99061519/1965-03-20/ed-1/seq-2/…; “Club News,” The Carolinian, November 18, 1976, p. 9, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn99061519/1976-11-18/ed-1/seq-9/…; (“Pattie L. Higgs” (obituary), The News and Observer, January 17, 1985, p. 37, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
5.  “Pattie L. Higgs” (obituary), The News and Observer, January 18, 1985, p. 35, accessed from www.newspapers.com.