An esteemed Black couple fought to improve Valley Junction. A street will be named for them.
Vicky Long Hill stands in the living room of her childhood home on a late June afternoon. A large portrait of Hill's beloved parents — the late John and Barbara Long — hangs alone on a corner wall, while old glamour shots and studio photos of her and her brothers and sisters and their children fill up the rest of the space.
Heading for the kitchen, Hill dodges the dated furniture. She says she's planning to renovate the place. It needs new paint and touch-ups here and there. Those simple acts of care will go a long way to preserve the boxy, split-level home that her father built from the ground up in the 1960s and that has since become a fixture in West Des Moines' historic Valley Junction.
With its emerald green door and manicured lawn, the Long family home in the 100 block of 11th Street stands as a symbol of hope for a community once damaged by redlining and urban renewal projects. It also serves as a lasting reminder of John and Barbara Long, who for decades advocated for the city to invest in their neighborhood — which it ultimately did, using tax incentives and targeted repair and improvement loans to help turn it into a thriving business district with sought-after homes.
They fought for better roads and playgrounds and for housing to be placed on vacant lots. And the couple created the Eddie Davis Community Center, designed to help immigrants and families of color in their neighborhood access legal services, food, clothes and more.
Their years of work now will be recognized.
Earlier this month, the West Des Moines City Council unanimously voted to designate Maple Street between First and 14th streets as "Johnny E. Long, Jr. and Barbara Long Honorary Roadway." They are the first residents to receive a street designation — and the first Black individuals to be named on city-owned property. Plans for a street designation ceremony are underway, Audrey Kennis, the city's diversity, equity and inclusion director, told the Des Moines Register.
"They were impactful, attending every City Council meeting for well over a decade," Kennis said. The couple — both of whom were lifelong Valley Junction residents — were caring civic leaders and often spoke up for those who "felt like they were being left behind," she said.
Family sought recognition earlier: It was a 'Long' time coming
Hill and her younger sister, Rachelle Long, said this was their second attempt at asking the city to consider renaming a street after their parents. The two recalled submitting an initial request in 2010, the year their father died, but were met with pushback.
They said the city back then didn't have a clear policy to award street designations, and public safety officials voiced concerns over changing street names. The technology used to guide GPS systems wasn't as advanced then as it is now and could have posed directional challenges, especially for first responders, said Hill, 69.
But the Longs don't just take "no" for an answer. No matter how long it takes is a lesson Rachelle Long, 63, learned from her father, who to many was known as Johnny or June Bug.
Last year — 12 years after their first try — the Long children reached out to the city and made another request. By that point, their mother had died, and Hill and her siblings sought to mark both of their parents' legacy in their hometown.
The city moved forward with the request the second time around, Kennis said. During the June 5 City Council meeting, Mayor Russ Trimble was among those who spoke of John and Barbara Long's impact and commended Hill and her siblings on working with officials to clarify the policy and criteria for street designations. In a swift vote, the City Council unanimously decided to rename the streets after the couple.
"Congratulations," Trimble said at the meeting. "Thank you for your patience and for not giving up."
Rachelle Long remembered how "surreal" that moment felt and was almost in disbelief.
"When it finally went through, I'm just like: 'Wow. This really did just happen. Like oh my god.' And it didn't come easy," she said. "It had a lot of pushback, but it was like the work that my mom and dad did ... they deserve to have that and more."
How John and Barbara Long fought years for 'quality of life'
The Long family home had an open-door policy. Hill and her sisters told the Register they grew up seeing new faces around their dining table — people in need of help, and their parents right there with a hot plate, ready to lend a hand.
"They would feed them, and they would just treat them like (family)," Rachelle Long said, adding that as a child, she and her siblings never dared to ask their parents "who" or "why." They would just "scoot over."
Small anecdotes like those are telling of Barbara and John Long's character. They were known for their kindness and compassion and their desire to make Valley Junction better. They didn't want the city to neglect — or really, rather forget — the families of color who lived in the neighborhood and deserved the same investment as the rest of West Des Moines.
"My father always stated that it's a 'quality of life' issue," Hill said. "That we wanted the same quality of life as other residents in the West Des Moines area."
Hill and her older brother, Gerry Page, said Valley Junction was home to Black, Mexican and immigrant families, many of whom lived south of the railroad tracks, now Fourth to Ninth streets, near the Raccoon River, and worked at a nearby cement plant.
Living that close to the river was tough for many homeowners, who braced themselves for flooding every time it rained, Hill and Page said.
By the 1950s and 1960s, families of color tried moving north of the tracks but came across another issue. The Longs were among many people of color who struggled to purchase a new home in the neighborhood and in essence were barred from living outside the 100 block of 11th to Sixth streets, they said. A government policy known as redlining prevented particularly Black homeowners from taking out loans because of their race, a practice that is now illegal.
John and Barbara Long have each received dozens of awards for their leadership, the Long children said, but that history of overcoming hardship is why the street designation carries so much weight for them and their community.
More: New bookstore in West Des Moines looks to create a 'safe space where everybody feels seen'
"Our ancestors, our grandparents, as well as our parents were always advocating for the neighborhood, advocating to maintain and to enhance a better quality of life," Hill said.
Their parents sought city investment and were mainstays at City Council meetings. They pushed for years for better streets and sidewalks, paved alleys and new housing and businesses, and lived long enough to see some of them come to be, Hill and Rachelle Long said.
Trimble shared that he came to know the Long family more than a decade ago. He was first elected to serve on the City Council in 2009 and was on a committee that heard Hill and her siblings' proposal for a street designation. He, like so many, called John and Barbara Long community leaders.
"If we were doing something down in the Valley Junction, you can better believe that they were there to weigh in," Trimble said. "They'll let us know what they thought of what we were doing, and how that might impact the Junction, why it (was) a good idea or a bad idea. They had their finger on the pulse in the Valley Junction."
And when John Long died in October of 2010, West Des Moines' City Hall closed. The Long children said city staff even draped a cloth over his seat in the chambers.
"That was just unheard of," Rachelle Long said. "It never happened before, and it hasn't happened since. But that just shows you the impact and significance and respect that my dad had from the community, especially from City Hall."
The Long family mission continues
At the Long family home, in the kitchen, Hill faced the patio door and pointed to the spacious backyard. There, she said, used to be fruit trees.
She and Page told the Register that this home isn't the original structure. On that same lot, their first home used to be one-and-a-half stories, with a wraparound porch.
Page said their father, unable to buy another home, decided to tear it down and build a new one. It was a project that took years to complete and involved many helping hands, Hill and Rachelle Long said.
Page said he remembered his father's friends and co-workers from the nearby cement plant helped them put up the home's frame. Page, who was a teenager then, said he even helped dig the home's footing and the basement. He also laughed, recalling the nights he spent wandering around the neighborhood, hunting for bathroom doors and toilets — items from homes that would soon be demolished for construction of Interstate 235.
"It saved a lot of money," he said, smiling.
Just two blocks away from the Long family home is the Eddie Davis Community Center, another investment that Barbara and John Long made to help families in need.
Hill is now the executive director of the nearly 30-plus years nonprofit, and her brother Stephen Long uses part of the space for church services. Hill's nephew, Bo James, runs Hip-Hope Inc., an organization that uplifts youth through music, art and culture.
There's also a food pantry, a clothing closet, a library, a computer lab and an office area where clients can seek legal advice.
Near the front of the center is a kitchen, with a long counter, barstool chairs and small flat-screen TV.
A wall behind the counter features old news articles from the Register and Business Record, chronicling the center's cook-offs, renovations and other services, next to photos of the elderly couple and their obituaries.
In one of the stories on the wall, a large image of John and Barbara Long shows the two smiling, with a quote in bold from John Long: "Sometimes people give me a hug or they cry and it makes you tear up knowing how much they appreciate it," he told a reporter, adding that he believed helping people is a "labor of love."
Even now, that sentiment rings true for Hill and her siblings.
Carrying on their parents' mission, Hill said they just want to continue to keep "hope alive."
F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at ftugade@dmreg.com or follow her on Twitter @writefelissa.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Why a West Des Moines street will be named after esteemed Black couple
