Latino History

Jessica Govea
How one girl helped build a Latinx civil rights movement
As a little girl, Jessica Govea had become accustomed to rising early and making her way to the fields with her family. During the cotton...
Sponges of diverse shapes and colors arranged in a line
Rea Ann Silva: The woman behind Beautyblender
While the iconic egg-shaped Beautyblender sponge is wildly popular and used by makeup professionals and everyday people from all...
Boycott Grapes button
Essential and expendable: The rise of agricultural labor and the United Farm Workers
Until the successes of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the 1960s, agriculture was one of the last industries to hold out on unionization...
Desert Camo bat
The artistry behind a baseball bat
Custom Baret bat, Woodbridge, Virginia, 2018Gift of Juan Baret Bate Baret personalizado, Woodbridge, Virginia, 2018Donación de Juan...
How butterfly wings helped a new collecting initiative take flight
The museum has created a new collecting initiative focused on how undocumented activists are leading fights for political representation....
Lobby cards for the film "Saludos Amigos"
Donald Duck: An American Diplomat?
Every April, people throughout North, Central, and South America celebrate Pan American Day. The roots of Pan American Day go back to 1890...
Two advertisements for the 1947 Amateur World Series with cartoon illustrations of a baseball pitcher and catcher
Baseball in December: Leopoldo Martinez and the 1947 Amateur World Series
Over seventy years ago, in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American athlete to play in the World Series, having famously...
The Washington Senators couldn’t win—but excelled at scouting Latino talent
Today, the Washington Senators are most remembered for their ability to finish in last place. Despite their successful early history marked...
Photo of Jose Feliciano playing guitar at Smithsonian
Musician José Feliciano shook up a baseball tradition at age 23
José Feliciano will remain forever celebrated for his perennial Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad," one of his many hit recordings that have...
Photograph of exhibition section under label, "Incorporating Western Lands"
Creating home, creating legacies: how the Del Valles built Camulos
This group portrait of Del Valle family members is on display in “Many Voices, One Nation.” This photo of the Del Valle family and...
Natalia Flores’s pink quinceañera gown
Collecting la fiesta de quince años
Light pink and very full, the organza and tulle gown took up a major portion of the sofa. Beside it, Natalia had placed her glittery high...
Cover of Leopoldo Martinez's red leather scrapbook. The embroidered book has features the text: Scrap Book.
Commemorating a LIFE: How one Latino ballplayer remembered his career
Leopoldo “Polín” Martinez was a highly talented semiprofessional baseball player who toured with clubs in Mexico, Texas, and Southern...
Photograph of Ernie Martinez's re-stitched baseball glove and repair tools.
Innovative solutions to baseball problems: Latina/o style
After hitting a double, the runner goes for glory and tries to stretch the hit into a triple. A throw, a slide, a cloud of dust, and...
Sara Sunshine’s Clio Award, 1987
Collecting the history of Hispanic advertising
Over the past two years, the museum's business history curator, Dr. Kathleen Franz, has been collecting a wide range of materials related...
Dozens of soldiers on horseback stand in a line, shoulder to shoulder. Mountains visible in background. Desert sand.
General Pershing's Mexican Expedition to capture Pancho Villa predates his World War I career
The small American town of Columbus, New Mexico, was the site of a major event 100 years ago today. On March 9, 1916, spurred by events in...
Group of small wooden carved figures, some with painted details.
Remembering collector Teodoro Vidal, who preserved Puerto Rican history and culture in the national collection
The first job I had at the museum was working with a collection of more than 3,000 objects from Puerto Rico, all collected by Teodoro Vidal...
The journey and business success of "La Chiquita"
"Chiquita, can you bring me a soda?" "Chiquita, how much is two pupusas and a bag of mangos?" These are the things neighborhood...
KCOR Radio Microphone, early 1950s
Earning a place on the dial: Raoul Cortez, KCOR, and Spanish-language radio
In the U.S. today, Hispanic media is big business. In 2013, Advertising Age reported that spending in the U.S. Hispanic media market...
Photo of white overalls splattered with paint
Three new collections represent Latinas from L.A.
As a curator at the National Museum of American History, I find that exhibitions are one space in which I can bring history to the public....
The sazón in hip-hop
A slow disco melody spins on the turntable, interrupted by the metallic sound of symbols. Right after that, the running sounds of bongo...
Tarima and shoes used by Martha Gonzalez in California, 1999
The beat goes on: New acquisitions once stomped out the soundtrack of Los Angeles
As the Museum gears up to open new exhibitions in 2015, 2016, and 2017, our curators have combed the country, looking for the richest...
Mexican-style dress
8 tips for experiencing Latino History at the museum
Looking to discover Latino history during your museum visit this Hispanic Heritage Month? Christine Miranda, who interned with our Program...
Fierce fashion from 19th century Puerto Rico
We doubt leg-of-mutton sleeves will make an appearance on runways during Fashion Week, but there's one thing that never goes out of style:...
Remembering Diosa Costello, "The Latin Bombshell"
Curator Dwight Blocker Bowers remembers Diosa Costello. "I was the original J. Lo.," Costello said at a 2011 Smithsonian donation...
Chef holding a tray of apple pies
As American as apple pie
Editor's note: If you're planning a visit to the museum after Thanksgiving, save room for dessert—and check the hours of our cafés. In...
A colorful biographical portrait of Celia Cruz, painted by Robert Weingarten, featuring aspects of her life
Celia Cruz portrait unveiled
Biographical portrait of Celia Cruz by Robert WeingartenIt's a pop of vivid color and glimmering textures, tinted with memories of home,...
A photograph of Celia Cruz taken in the 1950's
And the winner of the Frame an Iconic American contest is…
We asked you to vote on which of five iconic American figures should be memorialized in a new biographical portrait by Robert Weingarten, a...
People on a stage
Capturing D.C.'s rich Latino history
The Latino D.C. History Project is an initiative to document, preserve, interpret, and display the varied stories of Latino life in the...
Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa
The National Museum of American History and photographer Robert Weingarten are working in collaboration to build a historic portrait with...
Mariela Melero and Brent D. Glass stand near artifacts, including a yellow shirt for a doll that Mariela is holding, which were donated to the National Museum of American History by the Melero family
A tiny yellow doll's shirt: telling the story of immigration through objects
As chronicled in several of our past posts, the National Museum of American History regularly holds naturalization ceremonies in...
Stories of the Mexican Revolution
Curators use objects to tell a story about an event, a period of history, a person, a group of people, or a movement. Because we have a...
Margarita machine
A frozen margarita tale for Cinco de Mayo
Why is this homely little brown box, with its sign that identifies it as the "World's First Margarita Machine," living at the Smithsonian?...