“Not all of the contributions made by Hispanic Americans to our society are so visible or so widely celebrated, however. Hispanic Americans have enriched our nation beyond measure with the quiet strength of closely knit families and proud communities.” -President George H.W. Bush, 1989
From September 15 to October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month is observed in many US communities. It was instituted to celebrate the contributions of the Hispanic community to the world, specifically the modern US society.
The time frame, which extends from the middle of September to the middle of October, was specifically chosen since many Hispanic countries celebrate their independence days during this period. On September 15, there are five different countries that celebrate their independence: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras. A day later, Mexico celebrates its independence. September 18 serves as the Independence Day for Chile, and the 21st is Belize’s Independence Day.
The month was first introduced in 1968 by George E Brown, a California Congressman. Brown represented East LA and a majority of the San Gabriel Valley, two areas with large Hispanic populations.
On September 17, Congress passed Public Law 90-48, which officially authorized and requested that the president mark September 15 and 16 as the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Week. President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first Hispanic Heritage Week proclamation that very day.
For the next 20 years, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan all issued the yearly proclamation to set aside a week for Hispanic Americans. In 1987, Esteban E Torres, a California US Representative, proposed the idea to cover a month-long period. His reasoning was so that the nation could “properly observe and coordinate events and activities to celebrate Hispanic culture and achievement”. A year later, Senator Paul Simon submitted a bill with the same idea, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan. On September 14, 1989, President George H.W. Bush became the first president to declare the modern time frame as National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Since then, the time frame has been reserved to honor Hispanic culture and the impact it’s had on the modern American world.
