Robert T. Motts was an African American saloon owner and gambling racket leader, who established and managed Chicago's

Pekin Theatre Established on June 18, 1905, Chicago’s Pekin Theatre was the first black owned musical and vaudeville stock theatre in the United States. Between 1905 and around 1915, the Pekin Club and its Pekin Theatre served as a training ground and showca ...

, an epicenter of African-American theater. Motts was an organizer in the Republican Party. He also owned theaters in New York City.

Early life

Motts was born on June 24, 1861. His father, Thomas Motts, was a coal dealer in Muscatine, Iowa and died during the Civil War.Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Deaths Index, 1878-1922 His mother moved the five children to Washington, Iowa. At the age of 18, Motts left for

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and later

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he worked odd jobs and then as a coachman for four years.

Career

After the World's Fair of 1893, he invested in a saloon on 2700 State Street, owned by Snowden and Beasley. Eventually he bought out his business partners' shares and began to develop the

. A court order in New York enjoined Motts' theaters from having a show that infringed on a similarly named show.

Death

Motts' health began to decline, but he continued to devote his time to managing the theatre. He arranged for his sister, Lucy Jackson, to have joint ownership of the business and eventually sold his last interest in the business before his death. Motts died at his home on Calumet Avenue on July 11, 1911 from splenic leucemia. Motts' funeral was a major affair. Services were held at Quinn Chapel and Motts was interred in

Washington, Iowa Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,352 at the time of the 2020 census. History Washington was founded in 1 ...

References

People from Chicago Saloonkeepers Illinois Republicans 1861 births 1911 deaths {{US-business-bio-stub