There have been countless types of businesses started and run by African Americans in Omaha since the city was founded in 1854. One of the most popular types carried the community for a long time and still serves an important role, and this is the story of one of its most popular venues. This is a history of the Althouse Beauty School in North Omaha.

Christine and George Althouse met in Christine’s hometown of Louisiana, Missouri, at a beauty school there in 1921 and were married in 1921.

Moving to Council Bluffs in 1922, the Althouses started their first beauty school there right away.

They moved to Omaha in 1936 and opened their school. Christine “Madame” Althouse (1895-1959) and her husband George W. Althouse (1897-1981) opened the Althouse Beauty School in their home at 2422 North 22nd near Lake Street in North Omaha. Later in life, George often said they started a single barber chair that cost $5.

George worked for the Union Pacific when the school opened, with Christine managing it all hours of the day. After Christine died in 1959, George became the primary manager. At that point the school with eight instructors, 12 operators and 32 students. In 1966 George remarried to Mildred (1909-2007). The school moved to a second location at North 24th and Maple Streets, and in the late 1960s moved to its last location on the southeast corner of North 24th and Pratt Streets at 3617 North 24th Street.

After George died in 1981, the school continued operating into the early 1990s.

For nearly 60 years, the Alhouse Beauty School taught hundreds of Omaha women about beauty and cosmetology, as well as business development and community building in an era when the city was deeply segregated and the Black business community was largely autonomous, especially Black businesswomen. moving to Omaha to attend the school and sometimes staying afterward to start their shops. Offering generous scholarships and other pricing schemes, the school was a popular place for decades. Students came from surrounding states, including Illinois and Missouri. There were many notable graduates of Althouse’s Beauty School, including many female entrepreneurs who started their own businesses or beauty schools. They included LaRose Beasly, who started her own beauty school in North Omaha after Althouse closed.

The building (pictured at the top of the article) was demolished in 2014.

Today, there is no historic plaque or designation or memorial to this one-time iconic community institution. However, the legacy of the Althouses is still alive in some corners of the city’s beauty community where the last graduates of the school are still working.

You Might Like…

• A Biography of Christine Althouse
• A Biography of George W. Althouse
• History of Businesses Owned By African Americans in Omaha

MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF N. 24TH ST.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: 24th and Lake Historic District | Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church | Carnation Ballroom | Jewell Building | Minne Lusa Historic District | The Omaha Star
NEIGHBORHOODS: Near North Side | Long School | Kellom Heights | Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects | Kountze Place | Saratoga | Miller Park | Minne Lusa
BUSINESSES: 1324 North 24th Street | 24th Street Dairy Queen | 2936 North 24th Street | Jewell Building and Dreamland Ballroom | 3006 Building | Forbes Bakery, Ak-Sar-Ben Bakery, and Royal Bakery | Blue Lion Center | Omaha Star | Hash House | Live Wire Cafe | Metoyer’s BBQ | Fair Deal Cafe | Carter’s Cafe | Carnation Ballroom | Alhambra Theater | Ritz Theater | Suburban Theater | Skeet’s BBQ | Safeway | Bali-Hi Lounge | 9 Center Five-and-Dime | Jensen Building
CHURCHES: Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church | Pearl Memorial United Methodist Church | Immanuel Baptist Church | Mt Moriah Baptist Church | Bethel AME Church | North 24th Street Worship Center
HOUSES: McCreary Mansion | Gruenig Mansion | Redick Mansion
INTERSECTIONS: 24th and Lake | 24th and Pratt | 24th and Ames | 24th and Fort | Recent History of 24th and Lake | Tour of 24th and Lake
EVENTS: 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition | 1899 Greater America Exposition | 1913 Easter Sunday Tornado | 1919 Lynching and Riot | 1960s Riots
HOSPITALS: Mercy Hospital | Swedish Covenant | Salvation Army
OTHER: Omaha Driving Park | JFK Rec Center | Omaha University | Creighton University | Bryant Center | Jacobs Hall | Joslyn Hall | Harlem Renaissance
RELATED: A Street of Dreams  | Redlining | Black History in Omaha | North Omaha’s Jewish Community | Binney Street | Wirt Street