Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month: Special Collections

Whatever their individual backgrounds before they came to serve their country, the Hispanics in these collections all found opportunities without impediments by donning the uniforms of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Some, like Joseph Medina, came from a family with a rich military background; others, like Eva Jacques or Raymond Ayon, were students enticed with the notion that their country needed them. None expressed that even a hint of prejudice marked their experiences, a remarkable testimony to the democratic ideal of military service.

In 2014, the Office of the Historian and the Office of the Clerk produced a new edition of Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822-2012, a historical reference publication, under the guidance of the Committee on House Administration. The book chronicles the personal lives and public careers of the ninety-one Hispanic Americans who served in the Congress beginning with Delegate Joseph Marion Hernández from Florida in 1822 through the 112th Congress. It features biographical profiles, rare historical images, contextual essays, and comprehensive statistical information, charts, and appendices.

During the age of exploration, European countries explored new lands for political, religious and economic reasons. The explorations of the 15th and 16th centuries were fueled by a growing desire for expansion and trade, advances in shipbuilding and commerce, and the search for new markets and for the legendary sources of precious metals and other commodities.

Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande: The Juan B. Rael Collection is an online presentation of an ethnographic field collection documenting religious and secular music of Spanish-speaking residents of rural Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

The multicultural inheritance of Mexican Americans is rich and complex. It reflects the influences of Spain, Mexico, and indigenous cultures, and has been shaped by hundreds of years of survival and adaptation in the crucible of North American history. This history was also shaped by wars and depressions, by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase, and by shifting attitudes toward immigration.Mexican immigration occupies a complex position in the U.S. legal system and in U.S. public opinion. Immigration law has swung back and forth throughout the 20th century, at times welcoming Mexican immigrants and at other times slamming the door shut on them. The public reception of this immigrant group has also been unpredictable; Mexican immigrants have been able to make a place for themselves in communities across the United States, but frequently have had to battle hostile elements in those same communities to survive.

Americans of Mexican descent were been part of the fabric of American life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, in small towns in the Southwest, in the industrial cities of the Great Lakes, and beyond. From the military to the arts, from politics to business, science, and more, the contributions of these earlier generations of Mexican Americans are an essential part of the American story. Some highly selective examples are: During World War II, about 350,000 Mexican Americans served in the U.S. military, with several receiving the Medal of Honor. Mexican Americans have served as members of the U.S. Congress, heads of cabinet departments, governors of states, members of state legislatures, mayors of cities large and small, and members of city councils. Representative Joe Baca served in the U.S. Congress for more than ten years, representing districts in California. Mexican Americans have excelled in all areas of the arts, including visual arts, the theater, music, literature, and dance. Today, writers such as as Sandra Cisneros and Pat Mora and artists such as Rafael López continue to explore the creative legacy of a cultural heritage that crosses borders.

Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age encompasses historically important writings by prominent Puerto Rican political activists and historians dating from approximately seventy years before the Spanish-American war (1831) until some thirty years after it (1929). Texts from the postwar period include the only English-language works in the collection. Among these are soldiers' reminiscences about the conflict and short histories designed to acquaint an American audience with Puerto Rico in the earliest years of its affiliation with the United States.

During the age of exploration, European countries explored new lands for political, religious and economic reasons. The explorations of the 15th and 16th centuries were fueled by a growing desire for expansion and trade, advances in shipbuilding and commerce, and the search for new markets and for the legendary sources of precious metals and other commodities.

The islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba have a great deal in common. As near-neighbors in the Greater Antilles island chain, both lie in the Caribbean between Florida and Venezuela. Both share Spanish origins, and both islands have played key roles in the history of the Americas.The immigrant experience of each island's people, however, could not have been more dramatically different. In the latter half of the 20th century, the people of Cuba found themselves cut off from the United States, forced to overcome great dangers and obstacles to leave their homeland. In contrast, the people of Puerto Rico found themselves annexed by the U.S., and had to discover what it meant to immigrate to a country that already claimed them as citizens.

This online collection contains books, maps, prints and photographs, manuscripts, and other documents from the Library of Congress collection that was originally made available as Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier/Historias Paralelas: España, Estados Unidos, y la Frontera Americana, as part of the Global Gateways initiative.Parallel Histories explored the interactions between Spain and the United States of America from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, and represents a cooperative effort between the National Library of Spain, the Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular of Seville and the Library of Congress. The initial site was launched in June 2005, with a focus on exploration and early settlement. To access materials from the National Library of Spain, explore the Biblioteca Nacional de España website External.

This lesson about frontier life in Texas is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file, “Castolon Historic District” (with photographs), and other source materials about Castolon and ranching in the Big Bend region. It was written by Carol E. Sperling, former Supervisory Park Ranger at Big Bend National Park. TwHP is sponsored, in part, by the Cultural Resources Training Initiative and Parks as Classrooms programs of the National Park Service. This lesson is one in a series that brings the important stories of historic places into the classrooms across the country.

hat is less well known outside the Southwest is that the Mission San Antonio de Valero--the Alamo--was only one of a chain of missions strung along the San Antonio River. Established between 1718 and 1731, these missions were built not only to spread the faith of the conquistadors, but also to serve multiple foreign policy objectives for the Spanish government.

Mid 16th century to early 18th century. This violent storm off the coast of Florida in July 1715 ravaged 11 Spanish ships as they attempted to return to Spain. From the mid 16th to the mid 18th century, heavily-armed fleets such as this plied the waters between Spain and the Americas transporting massive amounts of New World treasure. Through this treasure fleet system, Spain created a mighty New World empire and became the most powerful nation in Europe. The fleets' return voyage—when the ships were laden with silver, gold, gemstones, tobacco, exotic spices, and indigo—was the most dangerous. Pirates and privateers from rival European countries threatened to seize the precious cargoes and jeopardize Spain's dominance of the Americas.

1860s-1920s American Indians introduced tobacco to the Spanish, who in turn introduced it to the rest of Europe in the second half of the 16th century. It was not until the early to mid-19th century, however, that cigar smoking became popular. Cigars made in Havana, Cuba, from Cuban-grown tobacco became the standard of quality, and American, as well as European, markets made Cuba prosperous. In 1857, in an attempt to raise revenue, the United States put a high tariff, or tax, on Cuban cigars. Many cigar factory owners in Cuba continued to flourish despite these new taxes because increasing numbers of Americans began to smoke cigars, and "clear Havana" cigars were the best. To escape the costs of paying the tariff, some Cuban cigar factory owners moved their factories to Florida, New York, and other parts of the United States. They also prospered because their cigars continued to be made by Cuban workers from tobacco leaves imported from Cuba. Vicente Martinez Ybor was one of the cigar factory owners who moved his operations to Key West, Florida. In 1885 he relocated yet again, to an area two miles northeast of Tampa. This area, known as Ybor City, became part of Tampa in 1887.

History of the San Antonio de Valero Mission (originally referred to as San Antonio de Padua). First as a mission then later site of the Battle in the Texas Revolution.

Handbook of Tejano History, which contains more than 1,200 entries, including 300 new entries, detailing the critical influence of Tejanos on the Lone Star State. More than twenty-five years have passed since the TSHA made an initial effort to increase the number of Handbook articles on Mexican Americans. Since then, researchers have made significant progress in Mexican American history and have helped to expand public and professional interest in the field. The Handbook of Tejano History intended to capitalize on the growth and interest by generating new entries and producing an authoritative, encyclopedic resource on Tejano history that will remain a standard source of information for decades.

The Mexican war of independence (1810–21), one of the rebellions that erupted throughout Latin America to overthrow Spanish colonial rule (see SPANISH TEXAS), left Mexico with an array of problems that touched upon events in the far northern Mexican province of Texas. Economically, the country faced devastation in 1821. It stood in marked contrast to the rich colony that had promised great potential towards the end of the colonial era. Money barely circulated. Once-rich mines struggled to regain their former efficiency. Ranches and farms were no longer productive. Entire areas experienced depopulation as people sought out a livelihood elsewhere. Moreover, while social distinctions persisted, as the military and church officials sought the preservation of the colonial order, emerging commercial and local landed interests attempted to introduce liberal modes of governance based on United States and European models.

Joaquín García Icazbalceta's collection of Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala is consistently a major attraction for scholars visiting the Benson Latin American Collection. It comprises original manuscript accounts and artistic renditions of the local geography with dates ranging from 1578 to 1586.

Listed are all 60 Hispanic Medal of Honor Recipients.
They are categorized by the War they fought, the date their
citation was awarded, and their place of Birth

The U.S. Army values the contributions of American Soldiers with ancestry from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Hispanic Americans have not hesitated to defend and show their allegiance to this nation in many ways, but especially through military service. The Army and the U.S. draw strength from the diversity that makes up America's melting pot.

Chronology starting in 1962 until 2005. Covers the contributions of Cesar Chavez and teh interactions with UFW.