Hispanic Emphasis Program

Tania Nanna
Hispanic Special Emphasis Program Manager
Phone: 318-473-7746

 

Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15 - October 15, 2009

Embracing the Fierce Urgency of Now! Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. The celebration began as National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was authorized and requested by Congress in 1968 (Public Law 90-498). It was officially proclaimed as such by President Ford in 1974, calling “upon the people of the United States, especially the education community and those organizations concerned with the protection of human rights, to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” In 1988 a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives authorized the change to National Hispanic Heritage Month (Public Law 100-402). President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the change official that same year. Hispanic Heritage Month falls in conjunction with two historic events: the Independence Day of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua on September 15, 1821, and Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16, 1810. Chile’s Independence Day is on September 18 (El Dieciocho); and Belize’s Independence Day on September 21. Additionally, October 12 is Dìa de la Raza (Day of Our Race), or Columbus Day, a celebration of mixed heritage society that resulted across the Americas. The 2009 theme for Hispanic Heritage Month is "Embracing the Fierce Urgency of Now." Mr. Thomas Share, Watershed Planning Staff, Davis, California, has been awarded first place for his entry in the 2009 Hispanic Heritage Month poster contest. His poster and biography can be downloaded below. The following documents require Adobe Acrobat. 2009 Hispanic Heritage Poster (PDF; 263 KB) Bio of 2009 Winning Author (PDF; 9 KB)

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month Click on the image above to download a copy of the poster (in PDF format)

Understanding the Hispanic Culture

• Understanding The Hispanic Culture - A very good article on Hispanic Family Values,  Etiquette, Rituals and Religion, Celebrations and Hoildays, etc.  "Over the past 30 years, the Hispanic population has exhibited tremendous growth in the United States. Hispanics comprise about 11% of the U.S. population, including 3.6 million residing in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Approximately 31 million individuals are identified as Hispanics. The U.S. Hispanic population is projected to become the largest minority group by the year 2006. Seventy percent of the Hispanic population is concentrated in four states - California, Texas, New York, and Florida. Mexican is the largest ethnic subdivision of Hispanics in the United States, comprising about 63.3%, followed by Central and South American (14.4%), Puerto Rican (10.6%), Cuban (4.2%), and other Hispanics (7.4%). " Additional Information

• The following document requires Adobe Acrobat.
  
  U.S. Census Bureau: Hispanic Facts for Features (PDF; 161 KB)

Who is Hispanic?

The Hispanic Emphasis Program (HEP) was established initially by a Presidential Directive in 1970 as a Sixteen Point Program for Spanish Speaking Americans. It was designed to assure consideration of the needs and problems of persons of Hispanic origin in all aspects of Federal personnel management and program delivery. Hispanics are persons of Mexican, Cuban, Central and South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

• The first Hispanic-American politicians, baseball players, and more........
• Smithsonian Latino Center
• Facts about Hispanics - US Census Press Release

Websites and Documents of Interest:

• USDA Homepage in Spanish
• NRCS in Spanish
• HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities)
• NRCS Hispanic Emphasis Program
• National Organization of Professional Hispanic NRCS Employees
• Latinas Who Have Been Honored by the National Women's History Project During the past 25 Years of "Writing Women Back into History"

The following documents require Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word

National Hispanic Heritage Month Recipe Book  (DOC; 1 MB)
"Cinco de Mayo!" - Just what is "Cinco de Mayo"?  (DOC; 30 KB)
English-Spanish Glossary (DOC; 233 KB)
USDA English-Spanish Glossary (PDF; 3,044 MB)

• Web Page Link to an English-Spanish Glossary

Last Modified: 09/25/2009

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