Granddaughter carrying on Freda’s Beauty Rama tradition

Freda’s Beauty Rama & Gift Shop has been in the spotlight as the community rallies to save the building in southeast Cedar Rapids, but to Freda Long, the real story is one of business succession.   “Octavia grew up in this beauty salon,” Ms. Long, 88, said of her granddaughter, Octavia Cox. “She surprised me when […]

Freda’s Beauty Rama & Gift Shop has been in the spotlight as the community rallies to save the building in southeast Cedar Rapids, but to Freda Long, the real story is one of business succession.   “Octavia grew up in this beauty salon,” Ms. Long, 88, said of her granddaughter, Octavia Cox. “She surprised me when she told me she was going to beauty school. She said, ‘I want to be like you.’”

Ms. Cox, 26, enrolled at Capri College and started at the cosmetology school after graduating from Cedar Rapids Washington in 2014. The experience differed dramatically from her grandmother’s after graduating in 1952 from McKinley in Cedar Rapids. Ms. Blakey – Freda’s maiden name – was turned away from the Paris Academy in Cedar Rapids due to her race, and was told to apply at a beauty school where Black students were accepted. She worked as a bookkeeper at Armstrong’s Department Store in Cedar Rapids to save money to attend Crescent Beauty School in Des Moines, the only one at the time that accepted Black students.  “My parents could only afford to send me $4 per month,” Ms. Long said, adding that she attended Crescent classes in the day and worked as a nurse’s aide at Blank Children’s Hospital at night “to help me through school.” In Des Moines, she styled the hair of Little Richard, who returned whenever he was in town, saying he liked her work. An autographed poster of the singer brightens a wall in her salon.  

Fixture in community

The second-youngest of 10 children, Ms. Long returned to Cedar Rapids after graduating from Crescent to help her mother care for her father when he became ill. Her father courted her mother in a horse and buggy when the two met in Buxton, Iowa, she noted, citing the family’s long history.  They lived in a house across from the shop that she later purchased, at 1028 12th Ave. SE.                                                                                                             The building was constructed in the mid-1920s for the Zachar Brothers Grocery Store, operated by Czech immigrants. “Mama would tell us kids, ‘run across the street and get a loaf of bread,’” Ms. Long said. The building was used by a cleaning company and other businesses before Ms. Long  purchased it in the 1980s. She previously worked for other salons and opened her own shop on Ninth Street SE in the 1960s. She met her future husband, Robert Long, while he was working as a barber. He died in 2000. Ms. Long still occasionally styles hair, but “I’ve got customers now going to Octavia,” she said. Her granddaughter has built her own clientele, but also works as a server and bartender to make ends meet.  “There’s a lot I learned from her,” Ms. Cox said of the years spent in her grandmother’s shop. “She didn’t realize I was watching everything she did.” Ms. Cox said her grandmother mentored aspiring barbers and hairdressers, and helped community organizations who used the salon’s parking area for cookouts and other fundraisers.

Building repairs needed 

Some of those people responded after Josh Booth, a North Liberty-based videographer, started a GoFundMe campaign to save the building, which raised more than $20,000 as of mid-September, with a goal of $50,000. 

The city closed the sidewalk next to the salon where bricks had fallen, but staff recently said they do not intend to impose fines while the family searches for a reliable contractor to make repairs.      Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer Hunter said the building potentially could qualify for local landmark status, which deems an individual property as historically significant. The process requires a detailed application and approval by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and City Council. Local landmarks are protected against demolition and exterior changes require review. Properties become eligible for up to $7,500 in grants for exterior rehabilitation projects. Ms. Long’s son, Edwin Montgomery, said repairs were put on hold due to ongoing street construction, and the building sustained further damage in Iowa’s 2020 hurricane-strength derecho. The insurance company denied their damage claims, he said, saying they needed to prove damage was due to the storm. Mr. Montgomery and other family members have tried to find reliable contractors, to no avail, he added.                                                     A pre-derecho estimate of $200,000 included interior upgrades, but now it’s difficult to find anyone who could do masonry work anytime in the near future, he said.

Keeping Iowa history alive

The family is aware of businesses nearby in New Bohemia that received assistance, Mr. Montgomery said, “but at some point, someone decided that we’re on the other side of a dotted line.” Mr. Montgomery cited generations of families who spent time at his mother’s beauty shop and the importance of keeping that history alive for the neighborhood and for his niece, who wants to continue the business.                                                                                             “The idea would be to keep that legacy going on that corner as a Black beauty shop,” he said, citing its role as a community center. “There’s the historical aspect from the African-American perspective.”  The city installed a marker across the street citing its history, but the building does not yet have a historic designation. “Freda's Beauty Rama was a Black-owned, woman-owned business when that was a rarity,” noted Dorothy de Souza Guedes, president of the Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood Association. “The building should also be preserved because it's the type of small neighborhood, minority-owned business that was once common here. Most are long gone, but we have an opportunity to save this one.” 

Video by Joshua Booth