'City o/Roses
Volume XL1I1
N um b er 27
Relegated to
Background
Film shines light on
singers caught between
obscurity and fame
Sandy Hook Benefit
A Jazz titan who lost a
daughter in the school
shooting will perform at
Jimmy Maks
See Metro, page 9
See Arts & Entertainment, page 12 I
U 13
I www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • July 10, 2013
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Community
Luminary
Paul Knauls celebrates 50
years of Portland memories
by D onovan
M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
Paul Knauls is a businessman, longtime activist for the
community, and the unofficial “Mayor of North and North­
east Portland,” but if you ask him, he is simply “Paul Knauls.”
The 82-year-old luminary celebrated 50 years in business
over the J uly 4th weekend, when he joined family and friends
for food and live soul music at his Geneva’s Shear Perfection
barber and beauty salon on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard.
Knauls has undoubtedly left his mark on the city forever.
His life followed a trajectory quite normal for black Ameri­
cans of the era. He was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and
for a time worked as a bell-boy at a country club during his
teenage years. It was here where an already existing desire
for a self-sustained business career burned even hotter.
“There were all these rich white people, and they’d come
in with fur coats and all these cars and everything and I
thought man, all I ’m doing is checking coats and hats. So I
asked a gentleman how do I get lots of money like you?”
Knauls recalled.
That man told the young and bright-eyed teen that own­
ing a business was the best route to go. Knauls faithfully
followed that advice, but before the dream became reality, he
would first graduate from high school in 1949 and enlist in the
Air Force as an office machine repairman during the Korean
War.
After 3 */2 years of military service he was honorably
discharged upon which he found himself working as a
typewriter-repairmen by day and wine steward by night at the
Davenport Hotel in Spokane. He never lost sight of his dream
to own a business; between the two jobs he worked fever­
ishly, and eventually , saved up enough money to move to
Portland.
The Rose City quickly became a catalyst for the war
veteran’s success. By the early 1960s, a string of nightclubs
popped up on the city’s north and northeast side and Knauls
got ownership of the establishments along with the woman
he fell deeply in love with, his wife of 48 years, Geneva
Knauls.
The names of those clubs were The Famous Cotton Club,
Paul’s, and Geneva’s Restaurant and Lounge.
“If you talk to some of older people they’ll remember all of
those spots.” he said.
Each club became staples in the city’s African-American
nightlife scene. It was not uncommon for black celebrities to
pass through one of Knauls’ venues when in town. Singer
and dancer Sammy Davis Jr., former World Heavyweight
Champion Joe Louis, and Light Heavyweight Champion
Archie Moore are just a few of the stars that were on the scene
at his establishments.
PHOTO BY
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Paul Knauls, the 82-year-old luminary known for his promotion o f Portland's African-American community, is
celebrating 50 years of operating a business in the city. He and his wife Geneva, operate Geneva's Shear
Perfection on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The nightclub business couldn’t last forever though.
“A good club will run about 7 years that’s about it, the
crowd grows up, the crowd comes in, everybody is happier,
and their kids hear them talking about how nice it is, and the
kids start coming and the parents look around like, god, I
don’t want my kids in here,” he says with a huge laugh.
As the older crowd began leaving, a new generation of
young people began flocking to his clubs, and they lost the
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