Program helps Philadelphia family highlight neighborhood history through documentaries

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- In Philadelphia and the surrounding areas, there's history in every neighborhood. One program gives residents a chance to highlight that history.

"We're Philly kids and growing up in a historical city," said Intisar Hamilton, who grew up in North Philadelphia.

Her husband also grew up in the city. When they decided to downsize in 2015 by moving to a home near Broad Street and Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia, they learned something new about the neighborhood they called home.

As an artist, she remembers being impressed from the moment she walked in.

"There's 40-foot ceilings, and archways," she said.

It's a grand entrance to what was once a grand place: The Pyramid Club.

"It was a Black social club in the city," said Joaquim Hamilton. "If you think about it, it was a safe space at that particular time, whether it's to show their art or to kick back and have a drink with a friend."

When a historic expert knocked on their door one day, it opened the gateway to learning more about The Pyramid Club, especially through photos that came from The Blockson Collection.

"Josephine Baker's in (a photo) and Marion Anderson's in it. And they're clearly in this space," said Intisar Hamilton of the home's stairway entrance that the stars were photographed in decades ago.

The plaque outside the home shares some of the story of its historical significance. The Hamiltons decided it was their duty to share the rest.

They applied for the nonprofit Scribe Video Center's Precious Places Community History Project. The program provides community groups and members the opportunity to make short documentaries that share the important stories of neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia.

"The Precious Places (program) gives folks an opportunity to contribute to that legacy that the city holds," said Malkia Okech, Outreach/Marketing Coordinator of Scribe Video Center.

"It's free of charge," said Louis Massiah, Founder/Director of Scribe Video Center. "The program is supported by the Independence Public Media Foundation here in Philadelphia."

"It wrapped us up with other creatives who can help us tell our stories. They gave us all the training, they gave us all the equipment," said Joaquim.

The work helps to preserve neighborhood stories in a city that's ever-changing.

"Development is a major concern," said Massiah. "Being moved out or having to move out, we lose something of ourselves."

Hamilton's work can currently be seen at The Colored Girls Museum in Germantown.

Her recent artwork has drawn on inspiration from living in the home that was once the Pyramid Club, which often hosted art shows that are featured in old photographs.

It helped her to see more of her own neighborhood's culture.

"If you grow up in a place that's not a Philadelphia tourist stop, you can easily think that your place is not special or that nothing has happened there," she said.

The couple's documentary proves otherwise as a home's history is revealed.

"(We appreciate) being able to tell this new story that for some people, they just don't know," she noted.

The Precious Places documentary program just finished accepting applications for its latest round. New applications won't be accepted until January 2024.

However, the program is looking for people to help the chosen community organizations and residents with creating their documentaries.

For more information, or to research future application opportunities, click here: https://scribe.org/precious-places-community-history-project