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Just off South Street before Bainbridge, an old synagogue at 615 S. Sixth St. has been home to the South Street Antiques Market for the last couple of decades — or more.
A little further south, a storm-window/door business now occupies the site once used by Primo Beverages Soft Drink Manufacturing Co., founded in 1900 by Italian immigrant James “Giacomo” Esposito, at 812-814 Washington Ave.
These are just two of nearly 90 local haunts that have supplemental pictures, audio and/or video that can be viewed at PhilaPlace’s interactive Web site, www.philaplace.org. The site connects histories to places, as well as memories, across time and neighborhoods.
“Even though the landscape has very much changed, it can be preserved from this digital record. A lot of the buildings that still exist had a different life in the past,” PhilaPlace Executive Director Joan Saverino, who also serves as director of education and community outreach for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, said.
Presently, the site’s content is focused on two of the city’s oldest immigrant neighborhoods: South Philly and Northern Liberties.
“These were always immigrant, working class neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods have continued to be immigrant and working class neighborhoods even as they gentrify. We wanted to continue telling that story,” Saverino said, adding additional neighborhoods will be added in the future.
About 90 of the 200-and-counting stories on the site already, as well as 145 media images out of 1,100 and counting, are locally rooted.
Anyone can add their story and/or images to the site, like Donna Meidt, a native of Camden, N.J., who now lives in Tempe, Ariz., did.
In 1910, her great-grandparents, Maria and Salvatore Siciliano, opened a boarding house at 505 Catharine St. for just-arriving Italian immigrants. The house operated for about a decade, but the couple lived at that address for 11 more years. A photograph of Maria and some boarders on the dwelling’s steps can be viewed on the site.
Meidt said she felt compelled to tell her ancestors’ story because, growing up, her grandfather Antonio was big on family history.
“In my family, family history reigned supreme. My grandfather was the one really into history and the importance of remembering,” she said.
When he died in ’79, Meidt inherited all of his family documents.
“Then I had this mission of ‘what was I going to do with everything I have?’” she said, adding she did a Web search and found PhilaPlace and Saverino, who encouraged her to contribute.
Another local tale is Thoai Nguyen’s, executive director of Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition.
In ’75, Nguyen was 9 when his family left war-torn Vietnam. An American resettlement agency relocated them to Seventh and Wolf streets, where the 44-year-old still lives.
Nguyen arrived with his mother, Sau Thi, who spoke only Vietnamese, his father Albert, who spoke Vietnamese, English and French, and siblings Jeannie, Janet, Anna, Pauline, Thomas, Boone and Jacqueline.
“The adjustment wasn’t so difficult for me. At that age your mind is still very flexible. My ability to learn the language and to learn the culture was easier. I couldn’t say the same for my older siblings or my mom,” he said.
Growing up, Nguyen recalls three major market areas — Fourth Street, the Italian Market and the Seventh Street Corridor, which spans Oregon Avenue to McKean Street and Sixth through Ninth streets.
“You had clothing stores, butcher shops, toy shops. You had an egg store — a store that only sold eggs and milk — mom-and-pop delis, hosiery shops,” he recalled.
A recession in the late ’70s closed most of the corridor’s businesses, but today the area thrives with grocers, mom-and-pop shops, restaurants and cafes opened by the more-recent immigrants from Southeast Asian.
“I think the PhilaPlace project tries to honor all the immigrants that have come in the last 200 years. The project itself is valuable in that we are a city of diversity,” he said.
To tell the stories of yore, PhilaPlace uses multimedia, such as contemporary and historic maps, text of up to 600 words, photographs, audio and video. Site visitors can contribute new content on an ongoing basis and can plot their own stories, regardless of the timeline. Anyone can add a story, photo or video through the “Add A Story” button on every page. How to post is explained on the site, but Saverino said it does require a digitized image and some knowledge of interactive sites. The Historical Society reviews the submissions, but does not edit content.
“It’s really to create an enduring record of our history and culture in the neighborhoods. We also wanted to connect diverse audiences so different people who have lived in the neighborhoods can share their experiences in words and pictures. We’re looking to tell the stories of the neighborhoods from the distant past to modern times,” Saverino said, adding, “People can add a story about any era or subject they want and we figure out where to put it.”
According to the executive director, the site is the anchor of the PhilaPlace project with neighborhood programming rounding out the mix. Workshops on varying topics, including the free educator session “Mapping Our History” from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. March 10 at The Historical Society, 1300 Locust St., will be held throughout the year. In the fall, trolley tours of South Philly and Greater Northern Liberties will be offered, taking the project back to its roots.
PhilaPlace began in 2006 with a grant from the Heritage Philadelphia Program for proposed trolley tours of South Philly and Greater Northern Liberties. The free tours occurred in May of that year.
To build the Web site, grants totaling about $500,000 came from Pew Center for Arts and Heritage and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as well as several other organizations. PhilaPlace maintains the site, which doesn’t have a maximum capacity, so Saverino hopes everyone with a past recollection contributes.
“Everybody is sharing their memories and stories. People have been so excited. We have such a backlog now. We’re getting about two stories a week,” she said.
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