New Book Club · Launch Overview

The Underground Literary Society

A monthly reading community, meeting in The Underground at Harriett's Bookshop

PREPARED BY 1838 BLACK METROPOLIS  ·  RECLAIM. REWRITE. & RESTORE.

Why this, and why now

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911)

In the early and middle 19th century, literary societies like the Gilbert Lyceum and the Banneker Institute provided higher education when universities excluded Black people. At the same time, many affluent Black Philadelphians actively built pathways to emancipation — hosting freedom seekers, raising funds, and establishing churches and schools.

An underground literary society honors that ancestral legacy directly. It is named in remembrance of the ancestors who risked their lives to learn to read in secret, and it answers a present-day problem: the erasure of Black history from historic accounts and from library shelves, alongside real gaps in adult literacy.

01The concept

What. A community dedicated to preserving African American and African Diaspora culture through reading books, studying history, and engaging in practices that strengthen the community.

Who. Michiko Quinones (The 1838 Black Metropolis), Jeannine Cook (Harriett's Bookshop), and Verna L. Hamilton.

Why. To counter the erasure of Black history from historic accounts and library shelves, and to address adult literacy gaps by providing historical education.

Where. Harriett's Bookshop, in the lower level of the Fishtown location (238 E. Girard Ave) — a room already named The Underground.

02How it works

Five books in the first year. One title at a time, in the order below, beginning in the Philadelphia of 1838.

• Buy the book through Harriett's. In the shop at 238 E. Girard Ave, or online at harriettsbookshop.com.
• Take about six weeks to read it. Each book gets a month and a half. People are busy — you do not have to finish. Read as much as you can and come anyway.
• Then a salon with the author. We gather in The Underground for an evening with the author: a question-and-answer session, and a conversation about what you found interesting and what you want to ask. This is what the literary societies did, and we do it in their spirit. 19th-century costume is welcomed.
• Then the next book. The following title opens as soon as the salon closes, and the cycle repeats through the year.

03The cadence

Start in January, first salon in mid-February. The society opens in January 2027 with All We Were Promised. Readers have until mid-February, when Ashton Lattimore joins us for the first salon. In March we open The Vigilance Network with Carrie Hagen, and the same rhythm — about six weeks of reading, then an evening with the author — carries through the rest of the year.

The authors are coming to the table. We are securing each author's participation and working out the dates and times with them now. Exact dates will be issued starting in January. Until then, the schedule below is the shape of the year, not the calendar.

Scholars for the two 19th-century authors. Frank J. Webb and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper have passed away, so for books 4 and 5 we will bring in scholars of their work to lead the question-and-answer session in the authors' place. Dates and times for every session will be announced in January and posted at Harriett's.

04The reading list

Histories from before 1870. The reading list is anchored in the period the society is named for — the decades when reading itself was an act of resistance and when Philadelphia's Black institutions were being built. Starting there keeps the list true to the name, gives the group a shared foundation, and puts the era most often missing from library shelves back in people's hands.

The first year's list. Five books, in this order — beginning in the Philadelphia of 1838 and ending with Frances Harper, the Philadelphian who wrote the era down.