With over 65 million people in the United States who identify as Hispanic, the nation’s newest and fastest growing racial or ethnic minority provides many opportunities for learning about its culture. National Hispanic Heritage Month, which occurs from September 15 to October 15, celebrates the history and culture of Americans whose ancestry hails from Mexico, Central and South America, and Spain.
Students can learn about Hispanic heritage through a variety of media. For example, they can study art pieces by Hispanic artists and then recreate them themselves using similar styles or mediums. They can also investigate literary works from Latino authors, including Sandra Cisneros and Rudolfo Anaya. They can even find out about the lives of Hispanic patriots in military history by examining historical documents.
A variety of lesson plans and other educational resources are available to help teachers and parents teach about Hispanic heritage. For instance, the National Endowment for the Humanities (Open external link) offers a range of K-12 lessons on Hispanic culture, literature, and history. And, the New York Times Learning Network (Open external link) has several lessons on Hispanic and Latino music and culture, including reggaeton, the musical genre of Selena, and the artistry of Cuban singer Celia Cruz.
Other resources for observing National Hispanic Heritage Month include videos, articles, and other classroom materials from the Library of Congress’s Hispanic Heritage Reading Room(link is external), as well as from the U.S. Postal Service, Smithsonian Institution, and other museums. In addition, local libraries and historical societies might host Hispanic Heritage events.
As the Hispanic community continues to grow, so does the debate over how this group should be described. Despite the wide use of terms like Hispanic, Latina, or Latinx, no single descriptor adequately captures the diverse cultures and histories of people who descend from an area that includes everything from present-day southwestern United States states to the southernmost tip of South America and nearly every country in between. This diversity is reflected in the many names that have been used for this pan-ethnic group, including Aztecs, Maya, Tejano, Taino, Islenos, Boricua, and Afro-Latino, to name just a few.
Regardless of how they are labeled, however, Hispanics/Latinos have made significant contributions to the United States and should be honored for their contributions and celebrated throughout the year, not just during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The celebration began as a week-long observance under President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 and was expanded to a month by President Reagan 20 years later in 1988 with the passage of Public Law 100-402.