On Tuesday afternoon, Italians will gather at a church in the Province of Modena to observe the National Day of the Sacrifice of the Italian Workers in the World.

And when they do, the Dawson mine disasters of 1913 and 1923 will be a key part of it.

That’s because Manlio Badiali, a Pompeano resident whose grandfather lost two cousins in Dawson’s 1913 explosion, has been asked to speak at the ceremony about the twin disasters that together claimed the lives of 383 men.

Aug. 8 marks the 67th anniversary of another Italian mining tragedy, which occurred at the Bois du Cazier coal mine outside the Belgian city of Marcinelle in 1956. An underground fire that day killed 136 Italians and 262 miners in all, two numbers that mirror what happened in Dawson’s first disaster.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Church of Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini in Riolunato, which is located about 40 miles southwest of Bologna in northern Italy.

This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned Manlio in these newsletters. Several months ago, he sent me samples of Italian newspaper coverage of the 100-year anniversary of Dawson’s 1923 disaster, which I shared earlier this year in the March issue. He also has volunteered many hours to help me research the impact of Dawson’s two explosions on his home province, which lost 38 miners in the 1913 incident alone.

A few days ago, I asked him what he hoped to convey at the ceremony.

“I would like to be able to transfer to whoever listens to me, all of humanity, the tragedy, the desperation that the archive papers reveal,” he wrote in part. “I would like to make people understand that it’s not just about numbers or statistics but that every person carries a story with them that, many times, has disappeared. My desire is to renew the memory of these stories and of these people who deserve great respect.”