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DAYTON HUNGARIANS: STORIES, GLORIES, AND FOLKLORE

DAYTON HUNGARIANS: STORIES, GLORIES, AND FOLKLORE

Wright Memorial Public Library welcomes award-winning journalist and columnist Mike Sakal as he shares highlights from his book, Dayton Hungarians: Their Stories, Glories, and Folklore, a comprehensive history about the Hungarian community in Dayton, Ohio - one of Dayton’s largest ethnic groups - spanning from the late 1890s to the present day.

The book, which was a history preservation project sponsored and supported by the Old Troy Pike Community Church (formerly the Hungarian Evangelical and Reformed Church of Dayton, Ohio), features many stories about Dayton’s former Hungarian neighborhoods and families, including his own, on the city’s West Side and Old North Dayton.

“It was important to preserve the legacy of [the] Dayton Hungarian community as all three of its churches now are closed,” said Sakal. “I’m hoping that my book inspires historians of Dayton’s other ethnic groups to write similar books.”

Sakal, a second-generation American Hungarian, was a sports journalist for the Dayton Daily News. After his article about the Dakota Street Football Team, which existed on Dayton’s West Side from 1922 to 1941, made an impression on the Dayton Hungarian community, he began researching photographs of the neighborhood restaurants where the team celebrations took place.

Community interest in his books has led to a partnership with the National Park Service for a walking tour of the former West Side Hungarian neighborhood along the National Aviation Heritage Trail and other projects that document the imprint Hungarian families left on Dayton.

Copies of Dayton Hungarians: Their Stories, Glories, and Folklore will be available for sale following the program, along with a book signing.

For details about this event and other library programs, please visit wrightlibrary.org/calendar or call Wright Library at (937) 294-7171.

Wright Library
07:00 PM - 08:00 PM on Thu, 23 Oct 2025

Event Supported By

Wright Library
9372947171
publicity@wrightlibrary.org
Wright Library
1776 Far Hills Avenue
Oakwood, Ohio 45419
9372947171
publicity@wrightlibrary.org