Puerto Ricans have been part of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods for generations. That presence lives in murals along 5th Street, in storefront windows, in parade routes, in church basements, in school auditoriums, in meeting minutes, and in family albums kept close.

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Some of that history is preserved in places like the Hostos Archives at Taller Puertorriqueño. Some of it was never formally recorded. Much of it continues in conversation.

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Somos Society documents what is still within reach.

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We are a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit building a living, publicly accessible archive of the city’s Puerto Rican community through film and recorded conversation. The work moves with the people who are still shaping these blocks.

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The documentary films preserve personal histories in depth. The Domino Dialogues records conversations as they happen, around a table where memory passes between generations. Artists, business owners, organizers, educators, and neighbors speak from lived experience. What is said becomes part of the public record.

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Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community did not arrive all at once. It grew through migration, factory work, public schools, organizing for language access, storefront entrepreneurship, music, faith, and advocacy. Policies shaped where families could live. Community shaped what endured.

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Recording these histories now allows younger generations to understand where they stand without having to search for it later.

Murals fade and are restored. Businesses open and close. Blocks shift. Elders pass on knowledge. New families carry it forward.

The record should reflect that movement.

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Somos Society contributes to the archival landscape by creating accessible digital records that remain visible and available.

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The archive grows because people continue to sit down and speak.