Clothing stores, restaurants and pest control: This project celebrates the longtime business owners of 52nd St. in West Philly

Some histories are better heard than read. A new oral history project called “Legacy on 52nd Street,” which features the voices of people and businesses from West Philly’s historic Black business corridor, makes that case. The Enterprise Center, Rowhome Productions, and Urban Art Gallery collaborated and interviewed eight longtime business owners and community leaders along the street once referred to as “Black Main Street” about their businesses and the history of West Philadelphia. All of the interviews are now available at the Enterprise Center’s website, theenterprisecenter.com. Each interview is about five minutes long and is also available directly on the Enterprise Center’s SoundCloud page. “Legacy on 52nd Street” was originally released at the end of Black History Month and was featured in a short-term exhibit at Urban Art Gallery, featuring photo portraits of the business owners. “I think that it’s so important for people to see the history and legacy of 52nd Street. I don’t know what better way to do that than to highlight these longstanding businesses who have seen so much change in all the time that they’ve been here,” said Daria Williams, senior director of community at the Enterprise Center. The 52nd Street corridor was once referred...