National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. It honors the history and cultures of people in the United States whose ancestors came from Latin America, Spain and Portugal and parts of Africa. National Park Service staff members work with our partners in communities across the nation to share more than 500 years of hispanic and latino heritage at our parks and beyond.
Throughout the country, many museums exhibit Hispanic artists, community groups screen films about Hispanic history and culture, and restaurants serve delicious cuisine with roots in Latin America. Families gather together for holiday meals and celebrate in their local communities to remember the generations of Hispanic Americans who have shaped our country.
In 1968, Congress passed Public Law 90-498 that officially established Hispanic Heritage Week during mid-September. That year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law, and it took effect on September 17. This year’s celebration will be the 53rd.
While Hispanic Heritage Month was first celebrated for a week in 1968, it wasn’t until 1988 that it was extended to a full month by a bill sponsored by Sen. Paul Simon that President Ronald Reagan approved. It remains the only holiday designated by Congress that recognizes the cultural and historic influences of Americans whose ancestors come from Central America, South America, Mexico, Spain, and the Caribbean.
The decision to use the term Hispanic was a political one, and it came from government entities, activists, and the media seeking a way to broadly categorize groups that had different immigration experiences and felt disconnected from each other. Rather than identifying by specific nationalities, Hispanic gave them a common ground that made demographic research and public relations easier.
Over time, the terms Hispanic and Latino have been used interchangeably. Some see Hispanic as an umbrella term that reflects the shared Spanish language, while others prefer the more inclusive Latino or Latina to include both genders and the -o and -a endings in the word in accordance with Spanish grammar. In the end, it’s not so much about the name as it is about how we define Hispanic Heritage and celebrate the contributions of 62 million American citizens who have an incredibly rich history to share with the rest of the nation.
As we honor Hispanic Heritage, we also have to question whether the word is the best one for describing our collective identity and how that heritage has evolved in this country. It is important to remember that four-in-five of those with Hispanic or Latino ancestry are U.S. citizens, and they have a broad range of backgrounds, interests, and skills. That’s what makes the 62nd celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month so special and something all Americans can participate in.