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MARIETTA -- A plaque commemorating the abolitionists at Marietta College and the community who participated in the Underground Railroad will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The new historical marker will be dedicated on Putnam Street near Fifth Street to honor the efforts of activists who helped escaped slaves from the south find freedom in the free states.
While much of the Underground Railroad was shrouded in secrecy, Marietta, Belpre and Washington County were key in the clandestine network. Slavery was prohibited in Ohio because of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Among speakers on Saturday will be Tony Mayle, director of diversity and inclusion and associate dean of students.
Also speaking will be college President Bill Ruud and the donors for the project. Ada Woodson Adams, a historian and activist who has spent decades preserving Black history in Southeast Ohio, will be in attendance.
"She worked closely with Henry Burke in the past," Mayle said.
Burke was an Underground Railroad historian, lecturer, and author who lived in Marietta until his death in 2012.
The plaque recognizes local heroes of the abolitionist movement and provide details of the extent of their commitment to helping people escape slavery, Mayle said.
"During the ceremony, we will ring the bell in Erwin Hall nine times," Mayle said. "When the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed (in 1854), students protested by flying the American flag upside-down and (Erwin's) bell rang for 90 minutes straight."
Mayle is encouraging the community to attend the ceremony, read the plaque and learn more about local abolitionists.
"A lot of research went into this plaque, and it was made possible with a donation by an alum and with the help of Linda Showalter and the Special Collections Department," Mayle said.