What is Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month?
Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month was introduced in June of 1968 by California Congressman George E. Brown, and originally only spanned a week long. It is exemplary of growing movements in the late 1960s to acknowledge the contributions of underrepresented groups to the nation. About 20 years later, the celebration was expanded to a full month from September 15th to October 15th. These dates encompass several Latin independence days, including: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on September 15th, Mexico on September 16th, Chile on September 18th, and Belize on September 21st.
What is the difference between Hispanic and Latino?
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino describes the difference between these two terms as such:
“[the museum] uses the term “Latino” to describe the diverse residents of the United States with cultural or ancestral ties to Latin America or the Caribbean. For many, the term "Latino" also creates room for acknowledging Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other heritages on equal terms with European ancestry. The term “Hispanic” is used to signal a connection to Spain or the Spanish language.”
On Display
In our Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month exhibit, we have a variety of books from Hispanic and Latino authors! From magical fiction to hard-hitting journalism, you’re bound to find something you like. Here are a few titles currently on display!
Fiction
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (2023, Ecco).
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez (2024, Charco Press).
Infinite Country: a novel by Patricia Engel (2021, First Avid Reader Press).
You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue (2024, Riverhead Press).
The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel José Older (2019, Imprint).
Non-Fiction
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo (2020, Harper).
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú (2018, Riverhead Books).
Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid by William D. Lopez (2019, Johns Hopkins University Press).
Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom by Mireya Loza (2016, The University of North Carolina Press).
Defectors: the Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos (2024, Pantheon Books).
Ebooks
Decolonizing American Spanish: Eurocentrism and the Limits of Foreignness in the Imperial Ecosystem by Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera (2022, University of Pittsburgh Press).
Transmovimientos: Latinx Queer Migrations, Bodies, and Spaces by Ellie D. Hernandez (2021, University of Nebraska Press).
Latino Almanac: from Early Explorers to Corporate Leaders by Nicolás Kanellos (2023, Visible Ink Press).
Elena, Princesa of the Periphery: Disney's Flexible Latina Girl by Diana Leon-Boys (2023, Rutgers University Press).
Playful Protest: the Political Work of Joy in Latinx Media by Kristie Soares (2023, University of Illinois Press).
Additional Resources
"About National Hispanic Heritage Month," National Hispanic Heritage Month
"Hispanic Heritage Month," Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino
"The History of Hispanic Heritage Month," Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute at George Washington University