Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the history and culture of the U.S. Latino and Hispanic communities. Hispanic Heritage Month 2024 will last from Sunday, September 15, 2024 through Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
The event commemorates how those communities have influenced and contributed to American society at large.
The term Hispanic or Latino (or the more recent term Latinx) refers to a person’s culture or origin—regardless of race.
On the 2020 Census form, people were counted as Hispanic or Latino or Spanish if they could identify as having Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.”
Hispanic Heritage Month actually began as a commemorative week when it was first introduced in June of 1968 by California Congressman George E. Brown.
The push to recognize the contributions of the Hispanic community had gained momentum throughout the 1960s when the civil rights movement was at its peak and there was a growing awareness of the United States’ multicultural identities.
Brown, who represented East Los Angeles and a large portion of the San Gabriel Valley—both heavily populated by members of the Hispanic and Latinx communities—wanted to recognize the role played by those communities throughout American history.
On September 17, 1968, Congress passed Public Law 90-48, officially authorizing and requesting the president to issue annual proclamations declaring September 15 and 16 to mark the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Week and called upon the “people of the United States, especially the educational community, to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first Hispanic Heritage Week presidential proclamation the same day.
