Harriett’s Bookshop: Taking a look into the Present to see the Future

When looking for a small Local business bookshop, it is important to have the ideals of the shop align with your own. Having a place that is accessible, unique, and surrounded by like-minded people helps to create an excellent atmosphere for a bookshop to thrive. Harriett’s Bookshop has become that bookshop for many people in Fishtown. 

In the heart of Fishtown, Philadelphia, exists a Black women-owned bookshop, Harriett’s Bookshop. This Bookshop was named after Harriet Tubman to inspire women activists, artists, and authors. It is the purple marker on the map.   

This Large neighborhood of over twelve thousand residents started as a small fishing town in the 1700s until drugs overtook the area in the 80s and 90s (19125). Fishtown began anew in the 2000s with artists finding a home in Fishtown because of the cheap housing and untapped potential. New businesses started to emerge, creating a new Fishtown. This brought younger-aged families into the mix of the older-aged families that held on to the hope that Fishtown would one day reclaim its good name. The older residents had yet to learn of the rise to fame the new businesses would bring to Fishtown. A restaurant was created out of the ruins of another building, and a garage-themed bar established its second store. These businesses helped to reinvent Fishtown and put it back on the map as a place to visit (Goulet). 

When looking into the businesses that helped to reinvent Fishtown, I noticed they are unique and different from the average everyday companies. For example, Frankford Hall, created from ruins, makes German cuisine with outdoor seating and looks similar to a beer garden. The garage bar is made to look like you are eating in an auto shop. There are even quirky coffee shops, such as Milkcrate Café, that showcase vinyl records. It is shown on the map with green markers.   

Harriett’s Bookshop is also a part of this rise. It has created a chain effect of Black-owned, LGBTQ+ businesses. Another bookshop, Lot 49 book, was relocated to the same street as Harriett’s Bookshop in 2022. This bookstore is black-owned, women-owned, and Latino-owned and is also LGBTQ+ friendly (lot).   

Harriett’s Bookshop is very involved in the community through its social media and the events that it hosts. On their social media, I found that they have block parties for ban books and sisterhood Sit-in Trolley Tours, where they visit black-owned businesses in Philadelphia on a trolley. Upon further investigation of their Instagram, I found an article that states this tour is based on Rosa Parks’s defiance of not giving up her seat. These ideas that they have created with their store are very telling of their ideals and how they choose to improve society.  

Through pictures on their Instagram, the inside does not look like a traditional bookstore. They change up the inside of their store regularly. For example, in one of their posts, they made the bookstore look like a club and captioned it as a “book club,” pun intended, and another was decorated to look like an art gallery with its two-dimensional feel.  

Harriett’s Bookshop uses fun and inventive ways to captivate its readers, creating returning customers through its events both in and outside the bookstore. When first browsing Harriett’s Bookshop’s website, I immediately noticed a picture of a woman holding two books to a group of people protesting in front of the store. Harriett’s Bookshop is directly telling its customers what is most important to them: activism. The way they choose to categorize their books online aims to demonstrate the types of books they want to sell and what they want the community to know, such as my general Tubman, Children’s readers, “Ladies of the House of Love” book club and Penn Reads Literacy Project (University of Pennsylvania): Book Donation (Harriett’s). When I click on the categories, it brings me to more books in that category and gives me a descriptive blurb. Each category focuses on a topic of diverse books that are not generally showcased at big chain bookstores. Most books are by local authors or people starting to write more about different types of people.    

Overall, I would describe Fishtown as a quirky place that knows how to cater to those fighting for change peacefully and excitingly. Harriett’s Bookshop has become a valuable part of the Fishtown neighborhood. I am excited to personally experience the energy of Fishtown and how Harriett’s Bookshop has continuously helped create a safer and more activist environment.