Research Guides: Hispanic Heritage Month: Hispanic Heritage Month

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

September 15 was chosen as the starting date because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period.

Can you name the Spanish language countries? Click the map to start the game.

Hispanic Heritage Month at LOC
Events, images, audio and more from the Library of Congress
Hispanic Heritage Month at PBS
Video, history, interviews and more!
Hispanic in the U.S. by the Numbers
Statistics by age, geography and origin groups put together by the PEW Research Center
Hispanic Reading Room
Research from the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia & the indigenous cultures and peoples historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage.
Latin American Network Information Center
Language, history, and geography classes, as well as many for native speakers of Spanish and Portuguese.
Latin Dance Styles
Bachata, Merengue, Mambo, Salsa, Cha Cha Cha and more...
Smithsonian Latino Center
Celebrating the contributions of the Latino community in the arts, history, national culture and scientific achievement.
Hispanic-Latinx Primary Sources.
Primary sources related to Hispanic-Latinx culture – dating from the early 1800s through 2010 – from Federal Government records at the National Archives.