National Hispanic Heritage Month was initiated in 1968 as “National Hispanic Heritage Week” and established in 1988 by the U.S. Congress. It includes the days between September 15 – October 15. Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15 because this day marks the anniversary of independence for five Hispanic countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico achieved independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18. Latinos from all across the nation take a moment to reflect upon their history, customs and cultures, as well as the contributions their people have made to the U.S.
Famous Hispanic Americans:
Oscar Hijuelos – first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989), the story of Cuban musicians in New York in the early 1950s, when Latin music first swept the United States.
Joan Baez – a Hispanic American singer who helped popularize folk music and has spent a lifetime promoting nonviolence and humanitarian causes.
Luis Walter Alvarez - won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on a radio distance and direction indicator.
Ellen Ochoa – the first female Hispanic American astronaut. A mission specialist and flight engineer, Dr. Ochoa has won many awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal (1997) and Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995).
Roberto Clemente – the first Hispanic American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Clemente is often considered baseball’s greatest right fielder and is beloved for the humanitarian work he pursued in his lifetime.
