While described as the worst mining disaster in America, the Monongah Mine Disaster went a century without remembrances and commemoration. But now, a group of individuals is making sure that the tragedy remains alive in Marion County.

“I look back 100 years to when all these people came from all over the world to make a better life for themselves and their children, and they ended up dying,” said Assunta “Susie” Leonardis, a UNICO member who organized the commemoration. “This was not the only explosion. We have hundreds in the United States, and they were all forgotten. I want to bring this story to life.”