MCPL: Hispanic Heritage Month Web Resources

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Hispanic Heritage Month Web Resources

Overview

Hispanic Threads in America
A short but informative overview of the Hispanic presence in and contributions to the United States from pre-American Revolution to the present. Written by Cecilia M. Garcia of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Suggested readings. For middle school-high school.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage
This Gale Research site provides fifty biographies of notable Hispanic Americans, who range from explorers to political figures to media stars. There is also a timeline covering 500 years, information on holidays and celebrations under "activities", and a music section.

Hispanic Heritage Month
From Infoplease.com, this is a site with fun, but well researched information. Look at “Spanish Loan Words” for a few surprises. “Spanish Accents” gives the variety of Spanish spoken around the world. Among the most useful information are the Notable Hispanic American biographies and Census information in”Hispanic Americans by the Numbers.”

Comprehensive Sites

LANIC Latino Links
University of Texas, Latin American Information Network links to hundreds of Latino/Hispanic sites.

Hispanic Business Online
A megasite with an emphasis on business. Following the the "Research" link gives many charts about Hispanic owned companies.

Yahoo en español
A Spanish version of Yahoo, this site concentrates of retrieving websites written in Spanish. Sites in English of interest to Hispanics are not retrieved. This excludes many sites in the U.S. which are of interest to Hispanics.

Facts and Figures

Anuario Hispanico/Hispanic Yearbook 2005/2006
On the opening page, click on print yearbook to get "THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY IN THE US" which includes census figures on the Hispanic population in the U.S. and projected growth. You need Adobe Acrobat to read these files. There is a searchable database of Hispanic companies, people, etc.

Hispanic Population of the United States
Official figures from the Census Bureau . This site has good population information, as well as historical comparisons, projections, etc. You need Adobe Acrobat to read some of these files.

Who are Hispanic Americans?
While this article is primarily about the educational challenges facing Hispanic Americans, it has good general cultural and demographic information about the Hispanic population in the U.S. From a 1996 report from the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

Latino Ethnic Attitude Survey
Conducted by Daniel Roy, University of Kansas, this is an interesting study of self-identification, ethnicity, and language preference. There is state by state information on how Hispanics label themselves, what language they prefer, etc.

Collective Biography

American Women's History: Hispanic American Women
Part of a comprehensive website on women's history compiled by Ken Middleton, reference/microforms librarian at Middle Tennessee State University Library. This site covers not only web resources about Hispanic American women, but print and electronic sources as well.

Famous Hispanics
Small concise paragraphs on famous Hispanics from the U.S. and elsewhere, from ancient times to present.

Las Mujeres
Profiles of U.S. and Latin American Women of distinction, historical and present day. The information in each entry is not standardized, so the coverage is uneven, but still worthwhile. Click on the Celia Cruz commemorative picture to enter the site.

Notable Hispanic Americans, A-Z
Short biographical sketches of Hispanic-Americans from all walks of life. Created by Infoplease.com, which also produces the print source, the Information Please Almanac

Hispanic Americans in Congress 1822-1995
This site gives biographical information on 61 Congressmen telling of their accomplishments during their terms and a history of their political lives. Often includes photographs. Alphabetical, chronological, or geographic access. The introduction outlines the history of the role of Hispanics in the federal government. Current member information has not been updated. For information on current members, try the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

SACNAS Biography Project
Highlights the life stories and professional contributions of Chicano and Latino scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. Created for use in the K-12 classroom to give role models to minority students. SACNAS is the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement
Twenty-five portraits depict outstanding Latinos including Nobel laureates, scientists, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, politicians, and community activists. Stories of achievement, self-discovery, roots, and traditions are celebrated in 25 narratives. From the Smithsonian.

Literature, Art, and Music

Literature | Art | Music

Literature

Find A Poet
Sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, you can find many Hispanic poets listed here, like Jimmy Santiago Baca, Sandra Cisneros, or Lorna Dee Cervantes. There is also a "Listening Post" link where you can hear poetry read, often by the author. Indexed by poet's name or poem title.

Chicano Literature Index
This is an index of authors that provides bibliographic information on each author including links to other World Wide Web sites.

Voices from the Gap: Women Writers of Color
Voices From the Gaps is an instructional website focusing on the lives and works of North American women writers of color. See Chicana-Latina women writers category. Indexed by racial/ethnic background, each entry includes a biography, literary criticism, and bibliography. Mounted at the University of Minnesota.

Américas Award
The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. Lists of winners here will give parents great titles to get for their children at the library.

Art

Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art
Museum highlights from more than 200 years of Latino art across the United States. These sixty six paintings, sculptures, and photographs represent many different cultural traditions developed by mostly Spanish-speaking artists who have settled in America. Follow the ARTWORKS link to see the pieces in this exhibit.

Great Wall of Los Angeles
This wall, painted as part of the Chicano Movement, was created between 1978 and 1983. It depicts the history of minorities in California. Scroll down and pass your cursor over the central graphic. Learn what is happening now by clicking on "New Purposed Designs".

Hispanic Art Links
Links to many museums in Spain, the United States, Central and South America. Many have virtual collections so that you can view art works on the Web. A few outdated links, but still a worthwhile site.

Collectors Guide Online
This site is dedicated to sharing the art of New Mexico. Following the Articles link at the top of the page will lead you to a large numbers of individual pieces on topics, such as retalbos, collecting milagros, New Mexico Hispanic crafts etc.

Music

Descarga
A complete resource guide and catalog of tropical Afro-Latin music, with an online Journal about Latin music containing articles on musical styles and musicians. While this is a commercial site, its record reviews are written by music personalities such as Rebeca Mauleón, Nelson Rodriguez, and Bobby Sanabria. Great glossary of Latin music terms. The depth of the information is extraordinary.

Guide to Latin Music
Part of the Caravan Music website, this is an extensive overview of the music of Latin America. Weakest information is on Central America. Does not include any information on Latin music in the U.S.

Genealogy

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sources on the Internet
The premier list of genealogy sources, it includes Hispanic genealogy sources covering the U.S., Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Cites sources written in both English and Spanish

Hispanic Ancestors-Latin America/Spain
General genealogical sources as well as links to genealogical information for specific countries. At About.com.

Hispanic Genealogy
This is an excellent site if you are just beginning your search for your Hispanic roots. Al Sosa, the creator of the site is the host of the Hispanic Genealogy Forum on the web.

WorldGenWeb Project
This page, located on the RootsWeb.com site, allow you to go directly to genealogy resources of the country of your choice. In English and Spanish.

Hispanic Genealogy Center
Mounted by the Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York, this site is dedicated to encouraging genealogical research among Hispanics. This site also has a new spin-off site for Puerto Rican genealogy.

Primary Sources

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Text of the treaty by which the United States gained not only Texas but New Mexico and Upper California. Through this treaty, approximately 78,000 residents of these lands became American citizens.

Gadsden Purchase Treaty : December 30, 1853
Mexico sold the U.S. 30,000 square miles of land which included Arizona and New Mexico, south of the Gila River.

American Life History
These life histories were written by Folklore Project staff of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. If you search by the states New Mexico or Texas, you will get many oral histories of Hispanic Americans describing the life and folklore of both areas. Because the historians interviewed many of the elderly, the information on life in the late 19th century is extensive. Located at the Library of Congress.

Treaty Of Peace Between The United States And Spain;
December 10, 1898
This treaty that ended the war with Spain, freed Cuba, and ceded the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S. Mounted at Yale University, the Avalon Project.

Important Events & Places

General Sites

National Register of Historic Places-Celebrate Historic Heritage Month
Links to interesting places on the National Register and to national parks and monuments with significant connections to America's Hispanic heritage. Some places are famous, some just for fun.

Pre-Revolutionary-Florida, the California, Southwest, South Carolina, Texas

PBS: Conquistadors
This PBS resource provides information, including maps, drawings, and letters, on sixteenth century conquistadors Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Cabeza de Vaca, and Francisco de Orellana.

Spain In The New World To 1600
Created by the National Park Service, this website outlines Spanish activity in the New World, not just in North America.

The Ranch in Mexico
When the American Southwest was still part of Mexico, ranching became a major industry. This website tells about the role of the ranch in social life, the vaqueros, cattle drives, and other things that people often think of as particularly American. From the Vaquero Exhibit mounted by the Arizona State Parks.

St. Augustine: America's Ancient City
Browse the timeline to see pictures and artifacts about the Spanish presence in St. Augustine. Also includes biographical sketches of important people in each period. Mounted at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Santa Elena, South Carolina
Santa Elena was built in 1566 by the Spanish and remained the capital of Spanish Florida for 10 years. It was abandoned in 1587. Basic history plus interesting links to the archaeology of the site with pictures. Website mounted at the University of South Carolina.

Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón
Spanish discoverer of Chesapeake Bay and founder of the first European settlement in North America, San Miguel De Gualdape, in Georgia in 1526. From the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Handbook of Texas Online-Exploration
Scan down this web page until you see European discovery and early exploration. Very detailed and informative, if not very flashy history of the exploration of Texas. Sponsored by The Texas State Historical Association.

El Camino Rea de Tierra Adentro
A history of the 1200 mile road that ran from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Mexico City in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. From the the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Association.

California Mission History
History of the 21 history missions in California and their role in the early history of the state. Featuring two histories for each of the twenty-one California Missions, with beautiful color photographs, fascinating black and white sketches, and, for the first time ever, authentic mission music. This music was written in the missions during the late 1700's by the Spanish padres and the Native Americans who lived and worked there.

Juan Bautista de Anza
This is a summary essay on the accomplishments of Juan Bautista de Anza, which lead to the colonization of San Francisco. From Web de Anza. This website is “dedicated to providing students and scholars with an organized collection of information about Juan Bautista de Anza and the two overland expeditions described above.” Primary source materials such as diaries, maps, etc.

American Revolution

Ethnic Heritage of the Revolutionary War - The Spanish
Spain was instrumental in aiding the American colonists in their struggle for independence with secret supplies and direct military aid from General Bernardo Galvez and his troops along the Mississippi and at Pensacola, Florida. Additional links to other similar coverage

Pivotal Role at Crucial Time: Cuban Help for our Freedom
In 1781, the women of Havana, Cuba donated jewelry, diamonds, and 1.2 million pounds sterling to finance the battle of Yorktown, which essentially ended the American Revolution. From an Orlando Sentinel article. (July 4, 2001.)

Maryland State Resolution on the Role Played by Hispanics in the Achievement of American Independence
A resolution before the Maryland State Legislature to recognize the contributions of Hispanics to the American Revolution. The resolution completely outlines these contributions in a concise way.

Who was Bernardo de Galvez?
Bernardo de Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, aided the American cause by allowing badly needed supplies to be shipped up the Mississippi to patriot forces in the North. Later he commanded troops in battle against the British. He was General of Spanish Colonial forces in North America. From the Galvez Project.

Mexican-American War

U.S. Mexican War
This war profoundly changed the shape of the United States. In English and Spanish and Bilingual

Civil War

David Glasgow Farragut
Son of Jorge Farragut, a Spanish immigrant, Admiral Farragut was the Navy's first four star admiral. In the Civil War's Battle of New Orleans, he gave his famous order "Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead."

Hispanics in the Civil War
A short article about Hispanic solders in both the Union and Confederate armies. From the National Park Service.

Hispanics in Gray and Blue
A listing of Hispanics who fought in the Union and Confederate armies, with some information on each soldier.

After the Civil War

Ybor City
In the late 19th century, Ybor City outpaced even Havana in the manufacture of cigars. This site, by the National Park Service, tells how it was founded by Cuban immigrants and how it grew. Good visuals.

Spanish American War

Spanish American War
An excellent site about the war, with a very balanced approach describing both imperialism and anti-imperialism sentiment at that time. The treaty, ending this war, freed Cuba and made Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines U.S. territories.

The Imprisonment of Men and Women Fighting Colonialism
A time line from the website Puerto Rico y el Sueno Americano which outlines Puerto Rican nationalism from the Spanish American War to present.

Turn of the Century

In Search of a National Identity
This site is a long essay with links that highlight some of the most important historical events, beginning in the 1800s, that contributed to the definition of Puerto Rico's historical and cultural identity. Part of the American Memory, a digital collection from the Library of Congress.

History of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920

Mexican Revolution and Immigration
From the PBS series The Border, this page is a short summary of the causes of Mexican immigration from 1910-1920.

Border Revolution
A history of the Mexican Revolution which includes a wealth of information on Mexican migration to the United States in response to the conflict. At the University of San Diego.

Great Depression

Hispanic Americans in the Great Depression
This site is an essay on what happened when Mexicans were forced to returned to Mexico because of the strained economic times in the United States. University of Memphis.

Mexican Americans And Repatriation
From the Handbook of Texas Online, a long article about the hardships that Mexicans faced when they were sent back to Mexico during the Depression.

World War II

American G.I. Forum
History of the organization which was created to fight discrimination against Hispanic veterans. A companion piece to "The Border" series broadcast on PBS.

Los Braceros
During WWII, there was a great demand for manual labor in the U.S. The site outlines the program that brought Mexican Americans to work as agricultural laborers. The purpose of this project is to recover the history of the border agricultural workers, from their origins in rural México, to the agricultural fields of America. Available in Spanish.

Hero Street USA-A History
More than 100 Mexican Americans from the twenty five houses on this street served in WWII. This page gives the history of this neighborhood and the soldiers who lived there. A very personal look at war.

After World War II

The Cubans: Their History and Culture
The COR Center produces monographs on the people, history, and cultures of different refugee groups to help US service providers understand the new refugee populations. In this history, there is a large section on the Cuban migration to the U.S. created by the Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center, Center for Applied Linguistics.

Cesar Chavez
This is the California State Department of Education's comprehensive site on Chavez. Many primary documents and interviews. Chavez' biography is available in a number of languages.

Key Moments in the Hispanic History of New York
Time line which gives an outline of Puerto Rican immigration to New York.

Organizations

Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Official site of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). CHC is an informal group of 18 members of Congress of Hispanic descent. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanic Americans in the United States and the insular areas.

National Council of La Raza
The country's premier political think tank for Hispanic issues.
Founded in 1968 to work for civil rights and economic opportunities for Hispanics.

League of United Latino American Citizens (LULAC)
Founded in 1929, LULAC's mission is to advance the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health, and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. The website gives a wealth of information about its history and current political agenda.

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
The aim of this organization is to "…foster sound public policies, laws and programs to safeguard the civil rights of the 35 million Latinos living the United States and to empower the Latino community to full participate in our society." Follow the links "About Us" and then "Founding of MALDEF" to learn about the rich history of this organization.

National Puerto Rican Coalition
The NPRC addresses public policy issues and provides visibility and awareness of Puerto Rican community issues and concerns at the national level. This is their official website.

National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund
NALEO develops programs that promote the integration of Latino immigrants into American society, developing future leaders among Latino youth, conducting research on issues important to the Latino population. Follow this link to go to pages on naturalization requirements and a naturalization application.

National Alliance for Hispanic Health
The goal of the Alliance is to improve the health of all Hispanic groups in America. They run a national health hotline, have a resources list, and also publish many fact sheets about Hispanic health issues. You need Adobe Acrobat for the fact sheets.

Where We Come From

HistoricalTextArchive- Latin America
Dozens of links to the history of countries in Latin America. Many links give the background and reasons for Hispanic immigration to the United States. Some links in Spanish, some in English. Don Mabry, Webmaster, is Professor of History, Mississippi State University.

Hispanic American Immigration
An overview article from the World Book that traces Hispanic immigration from the 1500's to the 1990's.

Internet Resources from Latin America
The links in this guide provide access to many information resources for Latin American studies. This is an extremely comprehensive site.

Puerto Rico y el Sueno Americano/and the American Dream
A beautiful website on the history, culture and politics of Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Multimedia site continues oral histories, an online gallery, timelines, film section, biographical profiles, issues, dialogs, etc.

The Border
Companion piece to the 6 part PBS documentary about the Mexico/ U.S. border narrated by journalist John Quiñones from ABC's "20/20".

The History, Myths, Arts and Traditions of Mexico
A cultural history of Mexico with many links. Mounted by Access Mexico Connects, which is an encyclopedia of basic facts on all aspects of Mexico.

Local Sites

ESL Resources in Montgomery County
A list of public and private organizations offering ESOL classes in the county.

Smithsonian Institution Hispanic Heritage Month Calendar of Events
Huge list of the activities for adults and children going on from September 15 to October 15 at the Smithsonian. In English and Spanish.

DC Latino
A directory of resources for the Latin/Hispanic community in the Washington D.C. area.

Charles W. Gilchrist Center For Cultural Diversity
Located here in Montgomery County, the center is designed to provide activities and services to the County's diverse community. Links to cultural programs, ESL program listings, as well as small business programs which include job fairs.

SalsaMetro.com
This site focuses on salsa, merengue, tango, samba, mambo, and rumba in D.C., Maryland , and Virginia. The site lists clubs, instructors, events, etc.

SalsaNews.com
The SalsaNews provides the latest information on classes, clubs, concerts and special events regarding the music and dance of salsa in the Washington, DC Community.

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