Ellis Marsalis, Sr.

Ellis Louis Marsalis Sr. (April 16, 1908 – September 19, 2004) was an American businessman from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a former poultry farmer turned hotelier, Esso franchise owner and civil rights activist.

Marsalis was born in Summit, Mississippi, the son of Rosa (née Gayden) and Simeon "Simmie" Marsalis. His father had changed his surname to "Marsalis", his stepfather's surname. He was the patriarch of the renowned Marsalis musical family that includes his son, Ellis Marsalis Jr., and grandsons Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason. He was married to Florence Robertson (Marsalis), and also has a daughter, Yvette Marsalis, of New Orleans. Marsalis was never a musician of any kind, but was fond of Mississippi Delta Blues.

Marsalis came to New Orleans in 1927 and worked for the Duplain Rhodes Funeral Home, driving a horse-drawn hearse. During World War II, he did welding and built batteries to aid the war effort.

In 1943 Marsalis converted a barn on the shore of the Mississippi River into the Marsalis Motel. It catered to African-Americans, who were not allowed to stay at "whites only" New Orleans establishments under Jim Crow—the South’s segregation laws. The hotel and restaurant quickly became famous, attracting prominent musicians, such as Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, Ruth Brown, Etta James, Dinah Washington, and others, as well as some of the most influential civil rights leaders of the day, including Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. He was also elected President of the Nationwide Hotel Association, an organization of other Southern Black hotel owners, such as Ferdinand Prout, A.G. Gaston, Louis Mason that he co-founded in 1963, in an effort to increase the economic power of their businesses.

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