LibGuides: Celebrating Diversity: National Hispanic Heritage Month

History of National Hispanic Heritage Month

Since 1988 Americans have celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month annually during the period beginning on September 15 and ending on October 15. This guide is intended as a starting point for you to learn more about Hispanic peoples, histories, cultures and contributions.

Notable People

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez is a congresswoman representing New York's 14h congressional district.
Cesar Chavez
Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda is an award winning actor, songwriter, playwright and director.
Sandra Cisneros
A native Chicagoan, Cisneros is a well known author and poet.
Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rivera was a Latina-American drag queen and gay and transgender activist.

Websites

Choose Chicago
A neighborhood guide that highlights aspects of Latinx communities in Chicago including food, art and culture.
Hispanic Americans
This full length encyclopedia article examines different Hispanic populations history, migration and activism.
National Hispanic Heritage Month
This site is a collaborative project between the following organizations: Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
National Museum of Mexican Art
Located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, the museum's collection includes examples of Mexican art and culture from both sides of the border.

Recommended Print Books

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
ISBN: 9780063021747

Publication Date: 2020-06-30

A Chilean woman searches for her lover in the goldfields of 1840s California. Arriving as a stowaway, Eliza finances her search with various jobs, including playing the piano in a brothel. Summary taken from book.
The General in His Labyrinth by Edith Grossman (Translator); Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez
ISBN: 9781400034703

Publication Date: 2003-10-07

This is a fictionalized account of the last days of Simón Bolívar, liberator of five South American countries.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
ISBN: 9780679734772

Publication Date: 1991-04-03

The story of a young girl growing up in one of Chicago's Hispanic neighborhoods.
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
ISBN: 0061988251

Publication Date: 2011-04-26

The story of a slave of mixed heritage looking to take control of her own life.
Right-Wing Women in Chile by Margaret Power
ISBN: 9780271021959

Publication Date: 2002-06-15

Drawing on extensive interviews with leaders and participants, Margaret Power tells the story of right-wing women, examining their motives, the tactics they employed, and the impact of their ideas and activity on Chilean society and politics. Summary taken from book.

The print books can be found on the upper level of Galvin Library. If you need assistance finding a print book on the shelf, stop by the Research Help Desk located at the top of the stairs.

Recommended eBooks

Becoming Julia de Burgos by Vanessa Perez Rosario
ISBN: 9780252038969

Publication Date: 2014-10-28

In the first book-length study written in English, Vanessa Pérez-Rosario examines poet and political activist Julia de Burgos's development as a writer, her experience of migration, and her legacy in New York City, the poet's home after 1940. Summary taken from book.
From the Jaws of Victory by Matthew Garcia
ISBN: 9780520283855

Publication Date: 2014-06-14

Based on little-known sources and one-of-a-kind oral histories with many veterans of the farm worker movement, this book revises much of what we know about the UFW. Summary taken from book.
La Florida by Viviana Díaz Balsera (Editor); Rachel A. May (Editor)
ISBN: 9780813060118

Publication Date: 2014-12-02

Melding history, literature, anthropology, music, culture, and sociology, La Florida is a unique presentation of the Hispanic roots that run deep in Florida's past and present and will assuredly shape its future. Summary taken from book.
Steel Barrio by Michael Innis-Jiménez; Michael Innis-Jiménez
ISBN: 9780814785850

Publication Date: 2013-06-17

This book explores the Mexican Migration to South Chicago, 1915-1940.
Writing Revolution in Latin America by Juan E. De Castro
ISBN: 9780826522597

Publication Date: 2019-09-15

In the politically volatile period from the 1960s through the end of the twentieth century, Latin American authors were in direct dialogue with the violent realities of their time and place. Writing Revolution in Latin America is a chronological study of the way revolution and revolutionary thinking is depicted in the fiction composed from the eye of the storm. Summary taken from book.