July 27, 2024 - March 10, 2025

Harriett’s Bookshop is a small, black-owned business located in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Its mission is to celebrate women authors, artists, and activists in honor of historic heroine, Harriet Tubman. Six weeks after the store’s grand opening on February 1, 2020, Harriett’s was forced to close their doors indefinitely as the COVID-19 virus ravaged communities throughout the world. Many small businesses were unable to survive this devastating time, but shop owner Jeannine A. Cook employed unconventional methods to keep the business afloat—she moved the inventory outside and sold books on the honor system; she delivered books on horseback to children throughout the city. In the following year, business expanded to open Ida's Bookshop in Collingswood, NJ and, most recently, Josephine's Bookshop in Paris. In 2024, Harriett’s continues to thrive on the corner of Girard and Marlborough where the story first began.

The exhibition at PHL airport is a small replica of the children’s section at Harriett’s and is inspired by The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Hannah-Jones’s book sparked a modern antibook-banning movement, and the children’s display serves as a stand against the intent to silence certain stories. Under the direction of Cook, over twenty artists from diverse backgrounds came together to remodel the bookshop. From industrial design brothers Isaac and Jaime Salm to illustrator Alleanna Harris; wallpaper makers at Moth Paper to the furniture painting of Kevin Jordan and Brenda DaSilva; quotes from literary thinkers like Sonia Sanchez and Wayne Dyer to performances by Denise King and Seraiah Nicole. Last, but certainly not least, it is filled with all the words and wisdom that come from having shelves filled with lots and lots of books.

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