June 25, 2025
Kristen Harrison/Philly Thrive
Philly Thrive members interview Charles Reeves Jr. for the Grays Ferry Community Archive, a website that launched this month to preserve the neighborhood's history.
Longtime residents of Grays Ferry who have watched their neighborhood radically transform over the years have found a way to preserve its past.
Activists with community group Philly Thrive spent the past five years working on a virtual museum that focuses on the history of the area, and the Grays Ferry Community Archive went live earlier this month. The website features recorded interviews, a history of the neighborhood and a map of landmarks.
A mural is also being planned to memorialize members of the community who have died. Residents have until Monday, June 30, to submit photos to be considered for the artwork. They can be sent to Philly Thrive via social media or emailed to mediaprojects@phillythrive.org.
During an interview with PhillyVoice, Sonya Sanders, a lifelong resident of Grays Ferry and Philly Thrive member, reflected on a community that unified in the face of adversity — from racial tensions to the closing of mom-and-pop stores that would help low-income residents.
"We've been able to stick together," Sanders said. "... If someone's child is hungry, another adult will make sure they eat. There's so much we've been through."
A 2023 study from Philly Thrive found that from 2016 to 2021, the median rent in Grays Ferry increased from $914 to $1,115, while home prices and household incomes nearly doubled. In that same time, the percentage of Black residents in the neighborhood went from 71% to 33%.
"So many of us have been erased from the community ... my neighbors, family members, friends," said Sanders, who's Black.
After the start of COVID-19 pandemic, Philly Thrive members began to film interviews with longtime residents and scour library archives for history and photos.
"I thought it would be a good idea and also a reminder to the folks in the community — what we did, our strength and who we are," Sanders said. "It just really empowered us. ... It's our legacy."
The website also includes a call to new residents to learn the history, include themselves in the community and envision how the area can improve for all of its residents.
"We're not people that want others to feel sorry for us," Sanders said. "This is more-so to understand us, heart-to-heart."
