Notable Latino Americans

Notable Latino Americans
Author: Richard A. Garcia
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 449
Release: 1997-05-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0313005559

U.S. Latinos have made important contributions to American society, and this biographical dictionary is devoted to celebrating those contributions. All 127 men and women profiled in this work have immigrated to or been born in the United States and have made major contributions to American life and culture. Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and others of Spanish, South American, Central American and Caribbean heritage—more than one-third of them women—represent 35 fields of endeavor and all 50 states. From historical figures to the newest sports champion, figure-skater Rudy Galindo, this work provides profiles of both prominent and important but less-familiar people who have made significant contributions in their fields. Many of those profiled can be found in no other biographical source. A selection of photos complements the text. All biographies have been written by experts in their ethnic fields. Those profiled range widely from distinguished scientists to sports stars, from actors to activists, from businesswomen to political personalities, from literary luminaries to labor organizers. All are potential role models for young men and women, and many have overcome extreme odds to succeed. These colorfully written, substantive biographies detail their subjects' goals, struggles, and commitments to success and to their ethnic communities. Among the 127 people profiled are: Nobel Prize-winning scientist Luis Alvarez; Treasurer of the United States Romana Acosta Bañuelos; actor/composer/activist Rubén Blades; classical dancer Fernando Bujones; baseball player José Canseco; U.S. Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos Jr.; writer Sandra Cisneros; fashion designer Oscar de la Renta; U.S. Congressman Lincoln DÍaz-Balart; teacher Jaime Escalante; composer/singer Gloria Estefan; tennis players Gigi Fernández and Mary Joe Fernández ; playwright Mara Fornés; U.S. Men's 1996 Figure Skating Champion Rudy Galindo; physician/political activist Héctor GarcÍa; Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta; labor leader Dolores Huerta; U.S. Ambassador MarÍa-Luci Jaramillo; artist Marisol; civil-rights activist Vilma Socorro MartÍnez; businessman/politician Jorge Mas Canosa; federal judge Harold Medina; graphic artist Nicholasa Mohr; U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello; astronaut Ellen Ochoa; Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Severo Ochoa; TV personality Geraldo Rivera; U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; educational psychologist George I. Sánchez; newspaper editor Roberto Suárez; women's rights activist/businesswoman MarÍa Elena Toraño-PantÍn; New York State Supreme Court Judge Edwin Torres; mystic Teresa Urrea; film producer/director Luis Valdez. For ease of use, the heading of each profile identifies ethnic group, field of endeavor, birthdate and, where appropriate, death date. Each profile concludes with a suggested reading list of books and periodical articles about the subject. An ethnic index, field of endeavor index, and a general index make research easy. This much needed reference work is essential for school and public libraries.

Nuestra América

Nuestra América
Author: Sabrina Vourvoulias
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0762497483

Celebrate 30 influential Latinas/Latinos/Latinxs in U.S. history with Nuestra América, a fully-illustrated anthology from the Smithsonian Latino Center. Nuestra América highlights the inspiring stories of thirty Latina/o/xs throughout history and their incredible contributions to the cultural, social, and political character of the United States. The stories in this book cover each figure's cultural background, childhood, and the challenges and opportunities they met in pursuit of their goals. A glossary of terms and discussion question-filled reading guide, created by the Smithsonian Latino Center, encourage further research and exploration. Twenty-three of the stories featured in this anthology will also be included in the future Molina Family Latino Gallery, the first national gallery dedicated to Latina/o/xs at the Smithsonian. This book is a must-have for teachers looking to create a more inclusive curriculum, Latina/o/x youth who need to see themselves represented as an important part of the American story, and all parents who want their kids to have a better understanding of American history. Featuring beautiful portraits by Gloria Félix, this is a book that children (and adults) will page through and learn from again and again. Nuestra América profiles the following notable figures: Sylvia Acevedo, Luis Álvarez, Pura Belpré, Martha E. Bernal, Julia de Burgos, César Chávez, Sandra Cisneros, Roberto Clemente, Celia Cruz, Olga E. Custodio, Óscar de la Renta, Jaime Escalante, Macario García, Emma González, Laurie Hernández, Juan Felipe Herrera, Dolores Huerta, Jennifer Lopez, Xiuhtezcatl Martínez, Sylvia Méndez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, C. David Molina, Rita Moreno, Ellen Ochoa, Jorge Ramos, Sylvia Rivera, María Elena Salinas, Sonia Sotomayor, Dara Torres, and Robert Unanue.

Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States

Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States
Author: Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2014-01-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393242854

“A rich and moving chronicle for our very present.” —Julio Ortega, New York Times Book Review The United States is still typically conceived of as an offshoot of England, with our history unfolding east to west beginning with the first English settlers in Jamestown. This view overlooks the significance of America’s Hispanic past. With the profile of the United States increasingly Hispanic, the importance of recovering the Hispanic dimension to our national story has never been greater. This absorbing narrative begins with the explorers and conquistadores who planted Spain’s first colonies in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the Southwest. Missionaries and rancheros carry Spain’s expansive impulse into the late eighteenth century, settling California, mapping the American interior to the Rockies, and charting the Pacific coast. During the nineteenth century Anglo-America expands west under the banner of “Manifest Destiny” and consolidates control through war with Mexico. In the Hispanic resurgence that follows, it is the peoples of Latin America who overspread the continent, from the Hispanic heartland in the West to major cities such as Chicago, Miami, New York, and Boston. The United States clearly has a Hispanic present and future. And here is its Hispanic past, presented with characteristic insight and wit by one of our greatest historians.

Bravo!

Bravo!
Author: Margarita Engle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2017-03-14
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1250156041

Musician, botanist, baseball player, pilot—the Latinos featured in Bravo!, from author Margarita Engle and illustrator Rafael López, come from many different countries and from many different backgrounds. Celebrate their accomplishments and their contributions to a collective history and a community that continues to evolve and thrive today! Biographical poems include: Aida de Acosta, Arnold Rojas, Baruj Benacerraf, César Chávez, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, Félix Varela, George Meléndez, José Martí, Juan de Miralles, Juana Briones, Julia de Burgos, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Paulina Pedroso, Pura Belpré, Roberto Clemente, Tito Puente, Ynes Mexia, Tomás Rivera. Bravo! también está disponible en edición en español.

Latino History and Culture

Latino History and Culture
Author: David J. Leonard
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 701
Release: 2015-03-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317466462

Latinos are the fastest growing population in America today. This two-volume encyclopedia traces the history of Latinos in the United States from colonial times to the present, focusing on their impact on the nation in its historical development and current culture. "Latino History and Culture" covers the myriad ethnic groups that make up the Latino population. It explores issues such as labor, legal and illegal immigration, traditional and immigrant culture, health, education, political activism, art, literature, and family, as well as historical events and developments. A-Z entries cover eras, individuals, organizations and institutions, critical events in U.S. history and the impact of the Latino population, communities and ethnic groups, and key cities and regions. Each entry includes cross references and bibliographic citations, and a comprehensive index and illustrations augment the text.

Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies

Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2006-02-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309165075

Given current demographic trends, nearly one in five U.S. residents will be of Hispanic origin by 2025. This major demographic shift and its implications for both the United States and the growing Hispanic population make Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies a most timely book. This report from the National Research Council describes how Hispanics are transforming the country as they disperse geographically. It considers their roles in schools, in the labor market, in the health care system, and in U.S. politics. The book looks carefully at the diverse populations encompassed by the term "Hispanic," representing immigrants and their children and grandchildren from nearly two dozen Spanish-speaking countries. It describes the trajectory of the younger generations and established residents, and it projects long-term trends in population aging, social disparities, and social mobility that have shaped and will shape the Hispanic experience.

The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club
Author: Amy Tan
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2006-09-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101502738

“The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it, I knew it was going to be incredible. For me, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime reading experiences that you cherish forever. It inspired me as a writer and still remains hugely inspirational.” —Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians Amy Tan’s beloved, New York Times bestselling tale of mothers and daughters, now the focus of a new documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir on Netflix Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue. With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Author: Julia Alvarez
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2010-01-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1616200987

From the international bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and Afterlife, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is "poignant...powerful... Beautifully captures the threshold experience of the new immigrant, where the past is not yet a memory." (The New York Times Book Review) Julia Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, is coming April 2, 2024. Pre-order now! Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s beloved first novel gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures. The García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. Here they tell their stories about being at home—and not at home—in America. "Alvarez helped blaze the trail for Latina authors to break into the literary mainstream, with novels like In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents winning praise from critics and gracing best-seller lists across the Americas."—Francisco Cantú, The New York Times Book Review "A clear-eyed look at the insecurity and yearning for a sense of belonging that are a part of the immigrant experience . . . Movingly told." —The Washington Post Book World

Yes! We Are Latinos

Yes! We Are Latinos
Author: Alma Flor Ada
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2016-03-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1580895492

Juanita lives in New York and is Mexican. Felipe lives in Chicago and is Panamanian, Venezuelan, and black. Michiko lives in Los Angeles and is Peruvian and Japanese. Each of them is Latino. Thirteen young Latinos and Latinas living in America are introduced in this book celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino and Latina experience in the United States. Free-verse fictional narratives from the perspective of each youth provide specific stories and circumstances for the reader to better understand the Latino people’s quest for identity. Each profile is followed by nonfiction prose that further clarifies the character’s background and history, touching upon important events in the history of the Latino American people, such as the Spanish Civil War, immigration to the US, and the internment of Latinos with Japanese ancestry during World War II. Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy’s informational yet heartwarming text provides a resource for young Latino readers to see themselves, while also encouraging non-Latino children to understand the breadth and depth of the contributions made by Latinos in the US. Caldecott Medalist David Diaz’s hand-cut illustrations are bold and striking, perfectly complementing the vibrant stories in the book. YES! WE ARE LATINOS stands alone in its presentation of the broad spectrum of Latino culture and will appeal to readers of fiction and nonfiction.

Leaders of the Mexican American Generation

Leaders of the Mexican American Generation
Author: Anthony Quiroz
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2015-05-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1457195879

Leaders of the Mexican American Generation explores the lives of a wide range of influential members of the US Mexican American community between 1920 and 1965 who paved the way for major changes in their social, political, and economic status within the United States. Including feminist Alice Dickerson Montemayor, San Antonio attorney Gus García, civil rights activist and scholar Ernesto Galarza, the subjects of these biographies include some of the most prominent idealists and actors of the time. Whether debating in a court of law, writing for a major newspaper, producing reports for governmental agencies, organizing workers, holding public office, or otherwise shaping space for the Mexican American identity in the United States, these subjects embody the core values and diversity of their generation. More than a chronicle of personalities who left their mark on Mexican American history, Leaders of the Mexican American Generation cements this community as a major player in the history of activism and civil rights in the United States. It is a rich collection of historical biographies that will enlighten and enliven our understanding of Mexican American history.