At the sign unveiling for Yancy Adams Park last month were Councilwoman Nicole Gillespie (left to right); Councilwoman Sue Mammarella; Councilman Chris Keating; Roxanna Yancy’s great grandniece, Carol Yancy (in front of Keating); her great-grandnephew Herb Yancy; James Adams’ son, Joe; Councilman James Barry; Joseph Adams’ wife, Kristin; and Mayor Quinton Law.
Moorestown’s Better Together Advisory Committee, township leaders and members of the community gathered for a sign unveiling at Yancy Adams Park last month.
The pocket park – on the former site of the West End Community Center (WECC) – was dedicated on June 18, 1977 to the memory of community organizers Roxanna Yancy and James Adams, and became the first park dedicated to Black Moorestown residents.
Yancy was a teacher for many years at the township’s School No. 7, according to the township. She was responsible for the establishment of the first Moorestown kindergarten for Black children and was active in the International League for Peace and Freedom. Through her efforts, a branch of the YWCA was established in the township’s west end.
Adams was director of the WECC for nearly 25 years, the nation’s first Black Eagle Scout and an influential mentor and role model for youths who spent time at the WECC.
The township secured 2024 state funding of $500,000, part of which will be used to update and revitalize Yancy Adams Park.
“In Moorestown, we are one community, united, and recognizing and celebrating every single person in this community,” said Better Together vice chair Richard Hinchman. “Community does matter and that’s why – at Better Together – we’re doing what we do.
“One of the things that we’ve tried to do with Better Together and with our partners in the township and with our partners throughout the township, is trying to be conscious about including everyone in this community.”
The Historical Society of Moorestown was awarded a $25,000 Inclusive History Grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission last year that supported an oral history project to preserve and share the WECC’s history. It was conceived by Moorestown native Richard Gray and focuses on gathering oral histories, photographs and artifacts related to the WECC, a social and cultural hub for the township’s West End neighborhood.
Following the eventual integration of the Community House, the WECC closed in 1968 and was demolished in 1975. It is now home to Yancy Adams Park.
“The West End Oral History Project will preserve the memory of this vital institution and will honor its significance to Moorestown’s history,” noted Lenny Wagner, president of the historical society. “Ultimately the goal of this project has been to make sure that the important part of history in Moorestown will not be lost.”
Moorestown resident and Better Together member Gregory Chinn was also a member of the WECC. After realizing the park needed some help, he attended a council meeting and requested some rehabilitation. Those upgrades included the planting of 10 new trees in the park; replacement of the path through it with new asphalt; and a Boy Scout’s renovation of a bench there.
Not the mention the work that will continue for years to come.
“Mr. Adams and Ms. Yancy took very good care of the people in this community,” Chinn shared, “and I value that.”
