ST. CLAIRSVILLE – This Black History Month, the Underground Railroad Museum and Ohio University Eastern have teamed up for the ‘Echoes of the Underground Railroad’ exhibit featuring 20 items at the college’s campus.

Museum Director Kristina Estle said that this is the first year the duo have aligned to provide easier access for residents who may not be able to make the journey to Flushing.

“I think this is a really great opportunity for people who maybe can’t come all the way to the museum,” she said. “Having this opportunity here is really nice for more people to see it and see what the Underground Railroad Museum is really about.”

Estle is an OUE graduate who received her bachelor’s in history at the campus.

“It’s really neat because I’ve always seen the exhibits that have been here and they’ve been really, really neat. So it’s really an awesome opportunity,” she said. “We’ve put a lot of work into it, surprisingly, a lot of work. I didn’t think it was going to be that much, but it turned out to be. And I think it just looks beautiful. It looks professional and elegant. And I feel like it kind of gives a little bit of a taste of how professional the exhibits will look in our new space.”

The new space Estle references is the future home of the Underground Railroad Museum at the Black Horse Inn in Morristown.

In spring of 2024 the museum received $3.9 million from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant Program. The program is part of a $154 million investment in Appalachian downtowns and destinations.

OUE interim dean Richard Greenlee said that the exhibition is a great opportunity to start to preview what will be displayed when Estle moves its collection to Morristown.

He added that the partnership was truly a full circle moment with Estle being an OUE alumni.

“It’s come full circle, hasn’t it? She comes here for school, she ends up being the director of the Underground Railroad Museum, then we work together to share the knowledge and the expertise that she’s developed by going to school here,” Greenlee said. “That’s what it’s all about and she’s contributing to the community, and that’s why Ohio University Easter exists.”

Estle said that attendees can tour the exhibit throughout the month of February but will need to call ahead to OUE to make an appointment.

She said that a guided tour will then be given by either a student or Greenlee.

“People should definitely come check out the Underground Railroad Museum as well,” Estle said.

Estle will also be hosting an event on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Underground Railroad Museum. “I will be delivering a presentation on the Civil Rights Movement. Basically, we will be talking about not only the movement, but all of the events that occurred during the movement – from the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to reconstruction to mass incarceration to lynching to the assassinations during the Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s, the Black Panther Party, the Black Power movement,” she said. “It’s a really lengthy presentation. It’s probably going to take about an hour and a half – a little longer than my typical talks. But there’s just so much that happened. And I don’t think when people think of the civil rights movement, they think of Martin Luther King, and that’s about as far as that goes. But there was so much more.

“And I think, I believe, if I can educate about all the past events people might have a better understanding of what the black population is continually going through today. I feel that this is a really powerful, impactful, but important message for me to deliver to the public as a public historian.”