More than two centuries after she escaped slavery to become a leader of the abolitionist movement, Amy Hester “Hetty” Reckless is being honored in Salem County with a new community center bearing her name.
The Amy Reckless Civic Center on West Broadway in Salem City, owned and operated by Salem Free Public Library, will function as a community gathering spot for programs and events. But it will also serve as a living reminder of Reckless — an overlooked heroine in South Jersey history, locals say.
She escaped abuse and enslavement in one of Salem County’s wealthiest families to help found the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She also operated an Underground Railroad safe house for people fleeing slavery and became an early feminist leader, helping fight to free women from sexual exploitation.
“Her story is really quite incredible,” said Amy Peterson, manager of the Amy Reckless Civic Center and director of development for Stand Up For Salem, a local nonprofit group. “Sharing her story and this connection is really important.”
The naming of the Amy Reckless Civic Center is the latest in efforts around the country to reckon with America’s history of slavery and discrimination. Academic institutions, professional sports teams and public institutions have begun reevaluating what names are on their buildings.
In some cases, sites have been renamed after notable Black people in an effort to honor people historically forgotten and to start making amends for past racial injustices.
The efforts include a national push to remove the names of slaveholders and leaders of the Confederacy from many colleges and schools — particularly in southern states — and at the federal level, including on Pentagon properties.
“That’s a really powerful thing, when a community comes together and decides that they no longer want to celebrate a history of slavery and enslavement and instead celebrate the history of emancipation and freedom,” said Emily Marker, an assistant professor of history who specializes in European and global history at Rutgers-Camden.
“It’s an amazing statement, co-authored collectively by a community, to teach a different lesson to our kids — to announce that this is a community that values freedom over white supremacist power,” Marker said.
A woman who freed herself and others
Amy Hester “Hetty” Reckless was born in 1793 to her mother, Dorcas Boadley, who was enslaved by Jane Gibbon Johnson, according to a biography from the Salem County Historical Society.
When Jane Gibbon Johnson’s died, her son, the famed Col. Robert Gibbon Johnson, assumed ownership of Reckless. He brought her to live as one of his servants at Johnson Hall, an elaborate house he designed and built in 1807 at 90 Market St. in Salem, records show.
Johnson, described as the “city father” on Salem’s municipal website, was a historian, agriculturalist, and most famously (but falsely) the first person to publicly promote the consumption of tomatoes by proving they were not, in fact, poisonous.
But inside his beautiful, stately home on Market Street was a darker reality.
Records state Reckless was mistreated by the family, particularly by Johnson’s second wife Julianna Zantzinger, whom he married in 1813. Zantzinger was said to be “exceptionally cruel and is noted to have ‘knocked out [Hetty’s] front teeth with a broomstick and yanked out tufts of her hair,’” records show.
Reckless was a mother. Tired of mistreatment and concerned for her child’s future, Reckless fled to Philadelphia, where she sought refuge with the Abolition Society, according to documents.
Johnson reportedly sought her return, but Reckless refused.
While in Philadelphia, Reckless was a founding member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, as well as a member of the Black Female Vigilant Association, an abolitionist group that also championed racial and sexual equity.
She also operated a safe house for the Underground Railroad on Rodman Street in Philadelphia, according to the Salem Historical Society.
In addition to her work combatting slavery, Reckless was an early advocate for women’s rights and strove to free women from sexual exploitation. In 1845, she and Hester “Hetty” Elizabeth Emery Burr — the wife of abolitionist John Pierre Burr — co-founded the Moral Reform Retreat, a shelter for “victims of vice,” according to county records. It was the only shelter for African American women in Philadelphia.
Reckless reportedly moved back to Salem in 1850 and lived at 50 Market St., just a short distance from where she was enslaved at Johnson Hall.
Reckless continued anti-slavery efforts throughout her life, even working with Salem’s own Abigail Goodwin to collect resources for the movement. In an 1862 letter to friend, Goodwin noted that Reckless stopped by the previous evening with funds for fugitive clothing. The letter notes Reckless raised $17 dollars, more than double what anyone else had contributed.
Reckless died in 1881 at 105 years old, a symbol of unyielding strength and resilience, historians say. But somehow, her story faded into obscurity, eclipsed by her wealthy slaveholder’s reputation and status.
Reckoning with history
Up until recently, Johnson — the local leader who enslaved Reckless — was considered a hero in Salem.
In the 1980s, Salem began hosting an annual “Robert Gibbon Johnson Day,” which featured a reenactment of the prominent historical figure’s famed tomato-eating stunt.
Things began to change in 2021, when members of Stand Up for Salem discussed bringing back the annual festival. After meeting with the county historical society and learning more about Johnson’s slaveholding past, President Tom Smith said Stand Up for Salem began rethinking its approach.
“We want to make sure that we’re telling the complete story and really celebrating the right people,” said Smith. “So it’s not ‘Robert Gibbon Johnson Day’ anymore. We’re not trying to praise him as a person.”
Notably absent from this year’s Salem Tomato Festival — as it’s now known — was the iconic tomato-eating reenactment on the courthouse steps. And despite all the attention the reenactment has brought to Salem over the years, it’s not likely to return ever again. Instead, organizers hired an actor to perform as Harriet Tubman and educate attendees about Salem’s connection to the Underground Railroad.
“Probably the biggest hero in this whole thing would be Amy ‘Hetty’ Reckless because of what she was able to accomplish after she fled,” Smith said.
When Stand Up for Salem received a $35,000 Hometown Heroes grant from Lowe’s Home Improvement to transform a defunct building on West Broadway into a sorely needed community center, members immediately felt the facility should be named in honor of Reckless.
“I just felt like this woman needs a platform, we need to be celebrating her in Salem City,” said Peterson, the Amy Reckless Civic Center’s manager. “She needs a mural, a statue, something so people can learn about her and feel pride in their community. There’s so many amazing people that come out of Salem, but she’s somebody that nobody even knew about.”
“Hopefully, this helps tell her story and continue to her work,” Peterson said.
The Amy Reckless Civic Center is expected to be complete later this month.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
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