Barnesville Rotary News

As part of the Barnesville Rotary Club’s observance of “Black History Month”, speaker at the February 11 meeting was member Kristina Estle, curator and director of the Underground Railroad Museum in Flushing.

Estle researched the history of the Underground Railroad in Belmont County while obtaining her master’s degree in history. She began working at the museum for founder Dr. John Mattox  in 2018 assuming the mantle when he passed on unexpectedly.

Mattox and his late wife founded the museum in 1993 with a mission of preserving and sharing American history for future generations.

Estle provided an overview on the early days and history of slavery to the Civil Rights movement including events from Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the passage of Civil Rights Amendments to the backlash during the Jim Crow era.