When Paul Knauls Sr. walked into the Spare Room for his 95th birthday celebration (technically, the after-party), the packed Northeast Portland institution exploded.
“The mayor is in the house,” people yelled, and showered him with affection.
Known colloquially as the “mayor of Albina” or the “honorary mayor of Northeast Portland,” Knauls’ reputation has long preceded him. The son of an Arkansas coal miner, Knauls was a pioneering Air Force veteran who became the first Black person stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. When he first moved to Washington in 1949, it was to help integrate the base…