Hispanic Heritage Month 2016

Every year in the United States, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month between September 15^th and October 15^th. During this month, the anniversaries of independence of Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua are also celebrated. Columbus Day, or Día de la Raza also falls within this month-long celebration.

This month celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans whose families and ancestors hail from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Organizations throughout the country have created exhibits and collections that celebrate these rich histories, cultures, and contributions. These organizations include the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the New York Botanical Garden, the Historic American Buildings Survey, the US House of Representatives, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The topics of these exhibits and collections are so diverse, from art and artists to historical records. Some highlights include:

• Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906 at the National Gallery of Art
• Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor’s legal opinions, writings and confirmation documents at the Law Library of Congress
• Spotlight on US Hispanic Writers from the Library of Congress
• Collection overviews, guides for children, resource guides, and travel itineraries from the National Archives and the National Park Service, and more!

You can also find Pinterest boards with Hispanic Heritage Month themes from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Our own observances of Hispanic Heritage Month have also shown the diversity of the Hispanic disability community. Some of the topics we have discussed in our blog include:

• Latinos with disabilities, including Rita Hayworth and Frida Kahlo
• The NIDILRR funded project RAICES/Promotoras that worked on a model to improve local services for Hispanic children with disabilities and their families
• The work of Dr. Fabricio Balcazar, PhD, who has been the director/principal investigator of several completed NIDILRR projects and whose research focus has been on the Latino disability community and their particular issues
• Some of the Spanish language resources from the NIDILRR community that we use frequently
• And Answered Questions, our monthly news for the disability community, discussed Latinos and Disabilities – Research and Researchers.

This year we will concentrate on the Latino/Hispanic athletes currently competing at the #Rio2016 Paralympic Games and on racial/ethnic and health disparities research being conducted by the NIDILRR community and beyond.