Alberta Northcutt Ellis
Introduction
Alberta Ellis was born Margie Alberta Northcutt on December 27, 1909, to Ora Crittenden and Clarence Northcutt in Springfield, Missouri. She owned and operated Alberta’s Hotel and Snack Bar, The Farm, and Bert and Bob’s “Crystal Lounge,” serving African American travelers near and on historic Route 66. Her life is a story of strength, service, and what it took to offer dignity to Black travelers during segregation in America. Alberta’s Hotel stood as a vital refuge along Route 66, one of the few welcoming stops for African Americans traveling the famous highway during the Jim Crow era.
Early Life
Little is known about Alberta’s early years. At some point she moved from Springfield to Kansas City, Missouri, where she graduated from the segregated Attucks School elementary school in 1923. There, she would have learned reading, writing, math, and practical skills like sewing and cooking. She then most likely attended Lincoln, which at that time was the only high school for Black students in Kansas City.
As with many Black girls of her generation, Alberta’s learning went beyond the classroom. She likely helped with household chores such as cooking and cleaning and probably cared for young or elderly family members. These daily experiences taught her the values of hard work, care, and hospitality, which helped prepare her later to run businesses for Black travelers.
Early Career
Alberta married Fred Watkins and welcomed her only child, Ora Elizabeth Watkins, lovingly called “Cricket,” in 1926. But by 1930 she had separated from her husband and was living in Springfield with her daughter in a rented home on North Sherman Street. Like many Black women of her generation, she faced the challenges of raising a child while also finding work in a segregated job market with limited opportunities.
According to records of her employment, Alberta was a maid or domestic worker in other people’s homes during the 1930s and 1940s. By 1940 she was again using her birth name, Alberta Northcutt, and was living with her daughter, mother, and grandmother. This home, with four generations living together, likely offered stability, support, and a sense of belonging. Extended families like Alberta’s were often found in Black communities, as family members leaned on each other to endure, adapt, and thrive.
Working in domestic service was demanding and did not pay well. But it also taught Alberta to give careful attention to detail and to stay strong during hard times. These years of cleaning, cooking, washing laundry, and taking care of others probably sharpened the skills she would later use as a business owner.
By the late 1940s, Alberta was working at the Southwestern Bell telephone company. This work paid more and offered better hours and benefits than domestic service.
For the first time, Alberta’s job gave her some financial success. With money she was able to save from her steady paychecks, she purchased a former hospital building in Springfield that was no longer in use. In 1953, she turned that old hospital into Alberta’s Hotel and Snack Bar.
Alberta’s was the only full-service hotel in town that welcomed Black travelers in the early 1950s. Her years of domestic work had prepared her well for running a hotel. She took what she had learned from working in other people’s homes and used it to serve her customers at her business.
For the first time, Alberta’s job gave her some financial success. With money she was able to save from her steady paychecks, she bought in Springfield that was no longer in use and turned it into Alberta’s Hotel and Snack Bar in 1953. Alberta’s was the only full-service hotel in town that welcomed Black travelers in the early 1950s. Her years of domestic work had prepared her well for running a hotel. She took what she had learned from working in other people’s homes and used it to serve her customers at her business.
A Home on the Road
Because segregation limited where Black travelers could stay, Alberta’s Hotel became more than just a place to spend the night. It was a gathering spot where people from different backgrounds, such as doctors, soldiers, musicians, and athletes, could meet and feel safe. In a time when the outside world often shut them out, Black people created their own strong communities built on shared experiences, respect, and care for one another. Businesses like Alberta’s Hotel were important places where those communities could gather and grow.
Alberta’s Hotel and her second location, The Farm, which was just off Route 66 about ten miles west of Springfield, thrived when segregation laws made it hard for Black travelers to find other places to rest, eat, or enjoy entertainment. After marrying Robert Ellis, her second husband, Alberta also operated Bert and Bob’s “Crystal Lounge,” a popular club offering music, dancing, and a welcoming space for Black travelers and locals alike. Her businesses did well during the 1950s and into the 1960s. But as legal segregation was ending in the mid-1960s, Black people could no longer be denied service at white-owned hotels or restaurants. Though it was an important victory for civil rights, businesses that depended on Black customers struggled with this change once their customers had more places where they could go. That proved to be the case for Alberta’s businesses as well.
Legacy
Alberta Northcutt Ellis died on July 19, 1966, but her legacy lives on in Springfield, across Missouri, and beyond the state. For over a decade, Alberta’s Hotel and Snack Bar offered more than food and lodging—it offered dignity, safety, and welcome to Black travelers who were often denied those basic rights. From 1954 to 1966, her hotel was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide that helped African Americans safely navigate the country during segregation.
From ordinary working people to famous guests, visitors found rest and respect under Alberta’s roof. Alberta used her tools—hard work, kindness, and determination—to build something powerful in a time of injustice. She turned her experience as a domestic worker into a career as a business owner, and her hotel became a symbol of community strength and self-reliance.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 changed how Black travelers moved through the country. For the first time, travel services like hotels and restaurants were legally required to serve everyone, regardless of race. As legal segregation ended, many Black families began to use previously restricted spaces, and the demand for separate Black establishments declined. For Alberta, this shift likely marked a turning point in her work. Still, her hotel, snack shop, The Farm, and Bert and Bob’s Lounge are still remembered as symbols of care, long after the businesses themselves are gone.
Today, researchers and community members continue to share Alberta’s story as part of Missouri’s African American history and the legacy of Route 66. Her life shows how everyday actions, rooted in care and purpose, can make a lasting difference in the lives of others.
Text and research by Bridget D. Haney
References and Resources
For more information about Alberta Ellis’s life and career, see the following resources:
SHSMO Resources
The following list of resources is available in the research centers of The State Historical Society of Missouri.
Articles from the Newspaper Collection
- “Councill agreed to give special consideration.” Springfield Leader and Press, January 6, 1953, p.2.
- “Graduating Classes First in Importance Next Week.” Kansas City Call, June 1, 1923, p.8.
- “Half-Finished.” Springfield Leader and Press, July 14, 1952, p.2.
- “Springfield, Mo.” Kansas City Call, August 6, 1954, p.17.
- African American Heritage in the Ozarks Collection, 2021-2023 (SP0078)
- The African American Heritage in the Ozarks Collection is made up of recorded interviews, written copies of those interviews, and photographs. These materials were gathered by the State Historical Society of Missouri during a special project from 2021 to 2022.
- Dark, Harris Edward. Springfield, Missouri: Forty Years of Growth and Progress, 1945-1985. Edited by Phyllis Betty Dark. Springfield, MO: Dark Printing Company, 1986. [H268.47 D158s]
Outside Resources
- The Ora “Cricket” Logan Collection. Missouri State University Special Collections and Archives, Springfield, Missouri.
- Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.