The American Hungarian Federation Honors the Victims of the 1907 Darr Mine Disaster and their Families. We Must Not Forget...

In 1909, AHF placed a Memorial over the common grave (seen here) at Olive Branch Cemetery in Van Meter, PA. The Memorial reads:

"To the Memory
of the Martyrs
The Darr Mine Disaster
Dec. 19,1907
Erected by the
Hungarian-American
Federation
1909"

In 2007, AHF and its key organizations commemorated the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

Below is the "official" list of 239 victims. Historical research, however, suggests the number is higher. Many names are Americanized, making genealogical research more difficult.

[Go to AHF's 2007 Darr Commemoration]

[Go to all AHF news]

Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Historic Site Marker honoring the coal miners killed in the Darr Mine Explosion, Dec. 19, 1907. The plaque is located at the Olive Branch Cemetery, on PA Route 981 between PA Route 51 and Smithton, PA. The marker was not erected until September 1994.

The plaque reads as follows:

"On December 19, 1907, an explosion killed 239 men and boys, many Hungarian immigrants, in Darr coal mine near Van Meter. Some were from the closed Naomi mine near Fayette City, which exploded on Dec. 1, killing 34. Over 3000 miners died in Dec. 1907, the worst month in U. S. coal mining history. In Olive Branch Cemetery, 71 Darr miners, 49 unknown, are buried in a common grave."

The American Hungarian Federation (AHF), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1906 in Cleveland, Ohio. The largest Hungarian-American umbrella organization in the United States, AHF is also among the oldest ethnic organizations in the country. AHF was established as an association of Hungarian societies, institutions and churches to "defend the interest of Americans of Hungarian origin in the United States." Read more [about us] or

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