Washington County Oral Histories

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Knepp oral history recording

An audio recording of an oral history of Paul Knepp and his wife about their life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on November 7, 1981. Born in different places, they both grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and eventually married each other there. They moved to Beaverton, Oregon, on February 29, 1936, after only a year of marriage. Paul attended University of Oregon and Mrs. Knepp went to Teacher College in order to teach the primary grades for a few years before she married. In Beaverton, they did some amateur farming until Paul got a job in Hillsboro doing labor. During World War Two, Paul was too old to join the service so he supported his country by working at the shipyards while Mrs. Knepp stayed home and raised their two sons, who both eventually became teachers. Mrs. Knepp started working for Beaverton School District in 1955 doing office and librarian work and stayed there until 1973 when she retired. After the shipyards, Paul worked for an accounting firm, then was an office manager, and finished with smaller, freelance jobs in accounting until he retired in 1971. Paul also served as a chairman on city council and then as mayor of Beaverton in either 1948 or 1949. They talk a lot about the city of Beaverton and how it has changed over the years that they have lived there. Form the people to the department stores that have come and gone, Beaverton has made steady progress and growth until it was a distinct city, separate from Portland. The Beaverton identity changed from a small town to a bigger city with its own sub-communities with their own identities within. They finish with acknowledging that there are bad things about Beaverton, but comparing it to other places, they believe that Beaverton is a great place to live. Paul and Mrs. Knepp go back and forth answering the questions and adding to each others’ answers. There is a full transcript of the interview attached with penciled corrections made throughout.

Knepp, Paul

Knepp, Mrs.

Beaverton Oral History Project

Washington County (Or.) -- History

Knepp, Paul

Knepp, Mrs.

Washington County (Or.)

Beaverton (Or.)

Hillsboro (Or.)

2 sound cassettes (1 hr., 17 min.)

English

WCM_OH_250

In Copyright

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Five Oaks Museum

Wickre, Karen

Audiocassettes

Sound