The late Ben and Mary Rose Dean’s barbershop has become history in Portland. The Black-owned barbershop in Portland, Oregon, now run by the grand children has made it into the National Register of Historic Places. Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barbershop is located in Northeast Portland. A community block party in front of the shop last month celebrated the awesome honor of the two founders of the shop who just passed away.
Dean’s Beauty Shop and Barbershop made it on the national registry thanks to Kimberly Moreland, a customer who moved to Portland from Cleveland with her husband and four kids and became a salon customer in 2016. She told a local news outlet, “When I walked into the salon, it reminded me of the salon I was raised in. It was a very precious moment from my childhood. Dean’s felt like home. It was nostalgic. The family photos on the wall, the wonderful conversations.”
Wanting to expand the business, the couple looked to purchase a nearby vacant lot and build a place for the salon. But like today, obtaining a bank loan is difficult for Black small business owners. As a result, Brown said her grandparents got an “unconventional loan,” purchased the lot, and built the salon, which opened in 1956.
As part of an effort to recognize and protect Black history, the Black-owned barbershop in Portland, Oregon, has made it on the National Register Of Historic Places. The founders moved to Portland from Alabama in 1944 during The Great Migration, when more than 4 million Black people left the South and moved across the country to various cities seeking greater opportunities. This was a time of rampant racist segregation.
After moving to Portland, Brown’s grandparents saved to buy a house and opened a salon in the basement. Brown’s grandmother has a hair-styling license from Alabama, and her grandfather went to a Portland barber school to earn his license.
