Hispanic Heritage Month 2010

September 15^th marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. This national observance began in September 1968, when Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the observance into a monthlong celebration taking place between September 15^th and October 15^th.

I have long wondered why this observance begins in the middle of a month and runs through the middle of the next month. September 15^th was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Additionally, two more countries celebrate their independence around the same time. Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16^th and September 18^th marks the date of Chilean independence.

We've selected a few websites and reference materials from the Carmichael collection to recognize this national observance.

Reference Works

• Lehman, Jeffrey. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Ref. E184.A1 G14 2000
• Meier, Matt S. and Margo Gutiérrez. The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Ref. E184 .M5 M4535 2003
• Meyer, Nicholas E. Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. Ref. E184.S75 M49 2001
• Navarro, Sharon Ann and Armando Xavier Mejia, eds. Latino Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Ref. E184.S75 L3557 2004
• Oboler, Suzanne and Deena J. González, eds. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Ref. E184.S75 O97 2005
• Stavans, Ilan, and Harold Augenbraum, eds. Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States. Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 2005. Ref. E184.S75 E587 2005
  

Web Sites

• Hispanic Heritage Cultural Tour - From the Smithsonian Institution, an exploration of historic pieces in the museum collection plus quizzes and activities
• Hispanic Heritage in the Americas - An Encyclopedia Brittanica collection of biographies, speeches, images, and other documents
  
• Hispanic Heritage Month on Biography.com - Featured biographies, photos, a trivia game, and more
• National Hispanic Heritage Month - Hosted by the Library of Congress, this site links to audio, video, and historic documents

Photo credit: "Mexican Independence Day celebration, La Habra, (Sept. 16) 1920s."
Photo courtesy of Orange County Archives. Creative Commons license.