20 Facts About Hetty Reckless

Hetty Reckless campaigned against slavery and was part of the Underground Railroad, operating a Philadelphia safe house.

Hetty Reckless fought against prostitution and vice, working toward improving education and skills for the black community.

Amy Hester "Hetty" Reckless was born into slavery in Salem, New Jersey, in 1776, the daughter of Dorcas Boadley, who was enslaved by the wealthy Johnson family who lived in Johnson Hall.

Hetty Reckless recounted that she boarded a stagecoach like any other passenger and rode without question from Salem to Philadelphia, resolved not to return because Johnson's wife had knocked out her front teeth with a broomstick and yanked out tufts of her hair.

Hetty Reckless was aggrieved because Johnson's mother had promised her she would receive her freedom, but when the Colonel inherited Reckless, he refused.

Hetty Reckless refused and did not return to Salem until after Johnson's death in 1850.

In Philadelphia, Hetty Reckless lived with Samuel and Eliza Clement, who were related to the Goodwins, the Quaker sisters who were pioneers of the Underground Railroad.

Hetty Reckless's past situated her to advocate for abolition within this PFASS.

Hetty Reckless's cherished possessions included a photograph of the members of the PFASS and a flag with anti-slavery inscriptions.

The PFASS was a racially integrated organization, but Hetty Reckless worked with the predominantly-black Female Vigilant Association, which formed in 1838.

September 1841 minutes of the PFASS show that Hetty Reckless reported that the Vigilance Committee had saved 35 enslaved people in a single month and recorded her request for additional funds of support.

Hetty Reckless operated a safe house for the Underground Railroad on Rodman Street in Philadelphia.

Hetty Reckless's activities included supporting the establishment of Sabbath schools in the black community.

Hetty Reckless felt it was important for the benevolent societies to support organizations which the African American community had created for themselves, but improve them with educational offerings.

In 1838, Hetty Reckless attended the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, held in Philadelphia from 15 to 18 May Hetty Reckless participated in the "Convention of the Colored People" held in Philadelphia in 1840.

In 1845, she and Hetty Reckless Burr co-founded the Moral Reform Retreat to shelter women "victims of vice".

Hetty Reckless introduced Sarah Mapps Douglass, who was from a more privileged class, to women's vulnerabilities to prostitution because of their illiteracy and lack of skills.

Hetty Reckless's home was located at 1015 Rodman Street which is in the Washington Square West district of central Philadelphia.

Hetty Reckless was aged almost 105 and left a daughter who was in her seventies.

Hetty Reckless's mind was quite sharp until the end and she was fond of recounting that she had seen George Washington more than once.