National Archives News

Hispanic Heritage Month

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Hispanic Heritage Month mural - Catalog ID 6190415

 

We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success. The observation began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988. The theme for 2024 is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.”

View related records on the Hispanic/Latino Heritage resource page and in the Archives Catalog. Topics include:

Entertainment | Sports | Arts & Culture | Puerto Rico | Prominent Hispanic Americans | Hispanic and Latino issues in the United States

Selected Photographs

 

Accordion

Explore resources for Hispanic Heritage Month on: 

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In 2021 we hosted a Virtual Pajama Party for kids aged 8–12 focused on Sylvia & Aki, an inspiring book based on a true story, featuring civil rights activist and title character Sylvia Mendez.

Sylvia Mendez

Sylvia Mendez was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on February 15, 2011. This video of Mendez was created by the Obama White House to mark the occasion and highlight Mendez's activism and role in the landmark case Mendez v. Westminster School District.

Find documents from the Mendez case file in Docs Teach.

Teaching with Documents is a regular column edited by the National Archives Education Team in the National Council for the Social Studies flagship journal Social Education.

"El Punto es Progresar: Examining Slums and the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration," features National Archives photographs in conjunction with a New Deal-era report about Puerto Rico.

Spanish-Language Activities on DocsTeach

Related Articles

Monuments, Manifest Destiny, and Mexico (Prologue magazine, Summer 2005) - The survey of the U.S.-Mexico borderline, which followed the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, is sometimes disparagingly referred to as the stuff that "dime novels" are made of. Dime novel it's not; it is more a narrative of nation-building, centered in President James K. Polk's vision of manifest destiny.


The United States Armed Forces and the Mexican Punitive Expedition (Prologue magazine, Fall 1997) - In February 1917, the last of the U.S. troops serving in the Mexican Punitive Expedition recrossed the border from Mexico into United States, nearly a year after Pancho Villa had raided Columbus, New Mexico. 

refer to caption

The Disturnell map of 1847

The Disturnell map of 1847 was appended to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (General Records of the U.S. Government, RG 11)

Kennedy Library

Documents related to a White House dinner honoring Severo Ochoa, winner of the Nobel Prize and the U.S. National Medal of Science

LBJ Library

Hispanics – The Forgotten Class in Civil Rights History

LBJ and Hispanic Heritage Month

Ford Library

Documents regarding the Forum of National Hispanic Organizations

President Ford '76 Campaign Fact Book—Hispanic Americans

National Hispanic Heritage Week proclamations by President Ford

Carter Library

Notes on a 1980 meeting with Hispanic leaders

Clinton Library

Records on the Mexican Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Presidential Proclamations

Lyndon B. Johnson: Proclamation No. 3869-September 17, 1968(inaugural proclamation)

Ronald Reagan: Proclamation 5859-Sep. 13, 1988(last proclamation for National Hispanic Heritage Week)

George H.W. Bush: Proclamation 6021-September 14, 1989(first proclamation about National Hispanic Heritage Month)

Annotations: Hispanic Heritage Month/The Herman Baca Collection

Forward with Roosevelt: From the Museum: “Holy Family” Carving

JFK Library Archives: Pedro Sanjuan, Insider for Integration

National Archives News: National Archives Supports Efforts to Digitize Important Records from Puerto Rico

Pieces of History: Sonia Sotomayor

Pieces of History: El Movimiento: The Chicano Movement and Hispanic Identity in the United States

Pieces of History: Dolores Huerta: “Sí, se puede!”

Pieces of History: The Bracero Program: Prelude to Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement

Pieces of History: Gloria Estefan: Forging a New American Sound

Pieces of History: Frida Kahlo

Pieces of History: Wedding in Rural Queretero

Pieces of History: Simón Bolívar, Latin American Revolutionary

Pieces of History: The Significance of Hispanic Heritage Month | El Significado del Mes de la Herencia Hispana (2018)

Pieces of History: Hispanic Heritage Month at the National Archives | Mes de la Herencia Hispana en los Archivos Nacionales (2018)

Pieces of History: Kicking Off Hispanic Heritage Month | Empezando el Mes de la Herencia Hispana (2018)

Pieces of History: Origins of National Hispanic Heritage Month (2017)

Pieces of History: Hispanic and Latino Organization (HALO) at the National Archives

Pieces of History: Roberto Clemente: A Legacy Beyond Baseball

Pieces of History: Rudy Martinez: The Beginning of the Latino Impact in World War II

Pieces of History: National Hispanic Heritage Month/Mes de la Herencia Hispana (2014)

Pieces of History: Modesto Cartagena, the Most Decorated Hispanic soldier of the Korean War

Pieces of History: President Nixon and the Hispanic Strategy

Pieces of History: Rita Moreno, Frst Hispanic actress to win the Academy Award

Pieces of History: Fidel Castro’s childhood plea to President Roosevelt

Pieces of History: Bienvenidos!

Rediscovering Black History: Historical Background of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program

Text Message: More than a “Single Issue Community”: The Congressional Hispanic Conference

From the Bronx to the Bench: Sonia Sotomayor’s Trailblazing Journey to the Supreme Court

Text Message: Sports in Courts: Roberto Clemente v. Pittsburgh Weekly Sports, et al.

Text Message: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with the Records of the National Register of Historic Places

Text Message: Castro, Cuba, and a Fleet of Fishing Boats: The Causes and Effects of the Mariel Boatlift

Text Message: Ellen Ochoa: A Pioneer on Land and in Space

Text Message: “Lucy, I’m Home!”…from the Army

Text Message: “I’m Counting on You” by Leon Helguera: A Mexican Artist Puts His Stamp on Uncle Sam

Text Message: Americans All by Leon Helguera: Appealing to Hispanics on the Home Front in World War II

Text Message: The Great “Adobe Inn” Move of 1962

Text Message: Towards a History of Mexican American Participation in World War I

Text Message: “Arias Bernal’s Trip to Washington”: a Mexican Cartoonist Joins the War Effort

Text Message: Spanish and British Explorations of the Pacific Northwest and the Nootka Sound Controversy

Unwritten Record: A Survey of Spanish Language Posters and Related Records

Unwritten Record: Recognizing and Celebrating Hispanic Culture

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