Diversity Affairs Feature

Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

The term Hispanic, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Spanish-speaking people in the United States of any race. On the 2000 Census form, people of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin could identify themselves as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or "other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino." More than 35 million people identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino on the 2000 Census.

Famous Firsts by Hispanic Americans

The first Hispanic-American politicians, baseball players, and more

Government

• Member of U.S. Congress: Joseph Marion Hernández, 1822, delegate from the Florida territory.
• U.S. Representative: Romualdo Pacheco, a representative from California, was elected in 1876 by a one-vote margin. He served for four months before his opponent succeeded in contesting the results. In 1879 he was again elected to Congress, where he served for two terms.
• U.S. Senator: Octaviano Larrazolo was elected in 1928 to finish the term of New Mexico senator Andieus Jones, who had died in office. He served for six months before falling ill and stepping down; he died in 1930. The first Hispanic senator to serve an entire term (and then some) was Dennis Chávez, of New Mexico, who served from 1935 through 1962.
• U.S. Treasurer: Romana Acosta Bañuelos, 1971–1974.
• U.S. cabinet member: Lauro F. Cavazos, 1988–1990, Secretary of Education.
• U.S. Surgeon General: Antonia Coello Novello, 1990–1993. She was also the first woman ever to hold the position.
• U.S. Secretary of Transportation: Federico Peña, 1993.
• U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Henry Cisneros, 1993.
• U.S. Attorney General: Alberto Gonzales, 2005.

• Flying ace: Col. Manuel J. Fernández, Jr., who flew 125 combat missions in the Korean War.
• Medal of Honor recipient: Philip Bazaar, a Chilean member of the U.S. Navy, for bravery during the Civil War. He received his Congressional Medal of Honor in 1865.
• Admiral, U.S. Navy: David G. Farragut. In 1866, he became the first U.S. naval officer ever to be awarded the rank of admiral. The first Hispanic American to become a four-star admiral was Horacio Rivero of Puerto Rico, in 1964.
• General, U.S. Army: Richard E. Cavazos, 1976. In 1982, he became the army's first Hispanic four-star general.
• Secretary of the Navy: Edward Hidalgo, 1979.

• Astronaut: Franklin Chang-Dìaz, 1986. He flew on a total of seven space-shuttle missions.
  
• The first female Hispanic astronaut was Ellen Ochoa, whose first of four shuttle missions was in 1991.
• Nobel Prize in Physics: Luiz Walter Alvarez, 1968, for discoveries about subatomic particles. Later, he and his son proposed the now-accepted theory that the mass dinosaur extinction was caused by a meteor impact.
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Severo Ochoa, 1959, for the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA).

• Novel in English, written and published in U.S.: María Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It? (1872). She's better known for her 1885 second novel, The Squatter and the Don.
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Oscar Hijuelos, 1990, for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Nilo Cruz, 2003, for his play Anna in the Tropics.

• Opera diva: Lucrezia Bori, who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1912.
• Rock star: Richie Valens, 1958.
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee: Carlos Santana, 1998.

• Oscar, Best Actor: José Ferrer, 1950, Cyrano de Bergerac.
• Oscar, Best Supporting Actress: Rita Moreno, 1961, West Side Story.
• Oscar, Best Supporting Actor: Benecio Del Toro, 2000, Traffic.
• Hollywood director: Raoul Walsh, 1914, The Life of General Villa.
• Matinee idol: Ramón Navarro, 1923, The Prisoner of Zenda.
• Leading lady: Dolores del Río, 1925, Joanne.

• Tony, Best Director: José Quintero, 1973.
• Tony, Best Supporting Actress: Rita Moreno, 1975, The Ritz. In 1977, Moreno became the first Hispanic American (and the second person ever) to have won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, and an Emmy, picking up the last of those for her performance as guest host on The Muppet Show.

• Star of a network television show: Desi Arnaz, 1952, I Love Lucy.
  
• Broadcaster of the Year: Geraldo Rivera, 1971.

• NFL player: Ignacio “Lou” Molinet, 1927.
• NFL draft pick: Joe Aguirre, 1941.
• Starting NFL quarterback: Tom Flores, 1960.
• #1 NFL draft pick: Jim Plunkett, 1971.
• Football Hall of Fame inductee: Tom Fears, 1970. He also became the first Hispanic American head coach in 1967.

• Major league player: Esteban Bellán, 1871, Troy Haymakers.
• World Series player: Adolfo “Dolf” Luque, 1919, relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, against the infamous “Black Sox.” (He later pitched for the New York Giants in the 1933 Series and was credited with the win in the final game.)
• All-Star Game player: Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel, 1951, starting shortstop for the American League.
• Rookie of the Year: Luis Aparicio, 1956, shortstop, Chicago White Sox.
• No-hitter: Juan Marichal, June 15, 1963, for the San Francisco Giants, against the Houston Colt .45s.
  
• Hall of Fame inductee: Roberto Clemente, 1973. He was also the first Hispanic player to serve on the Players Association Board and to reach 3,000 hits.
• Team owner: Arturo “Arte” Moreno bought the Anaheim Angels in 2003, becoming the first Hispanic owner of any major U.S. sports franchise. In 2005, he renamed it the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

• Grand Slam championship winner: Richard “Pancho” González, 1948.
• LPGA Hall of Fame inductee: Nancy López, 1987. In 1978, she became the first player to have won the the Rookie of the Year Award, Player of the Year Award, and Vare Trophy in the same season.
• Heavyweight boxing champ: John Ruiz, 2001, defeating Evander Holyfield.
• NHL 1st-round draft pick: Scott Gomez, 1998.

• Supermodel: Christy Turlington.
• Labor leader: Juan Gómez, 1883. The first female Hispanic labor leader of note was Lucy González Parsons, 1886.
• Entertainer on the cover of TIME magazine: Joan Baez, 1962.

Population
42.7 million - The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2005, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 14% of the nation’s total population. (This estimate does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.)
About 1 . . . of every two people added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005, were Hispanic.
3.3% - Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.
102.6 million - The projected Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 24% of the nation’s total population on that date.
22.4 million - The nation’s Hispanic population during the 1990 census—just slightly over half the current total.
64% - The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in households who are of Mexican background. Another approximately 10% are of Puerto Rican background, with about 3% each of Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominican origins. The remainder are of some other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origins.
Roughly half of the nation’s Dominicans live in New York City, with about half of the nation’s Cubans residing in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
27.2 - Median age, in years, of the Hispanic population in 2005. This compares with 36.2 years for the population as a whole.
107 - Number of Hispanic males in 2005 per every 100 Hispanic females. This was in sharp contrast to the overall population, which had 97 males per every 100 females.

States and Counties
49% - The percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that lives in California or Texas. California is home to 12.4 million Hispanics, and Texas is home to 7.8 million.
13 - The number of states with at least half a million Hispanic residents. These states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington.
43% - The percentage of New Mexico’s population that is Hispanic, highest of any state. Hispanics also make up more than one-third of the population in California and Texas, at 35% each.
4.6 million - The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif.—the largest of any county in the nation.
715,000 - The increase in California’s Hispanic population between July 1, 2003, and July 1, 2004, which led all states. Los Angeles County alone added 76,400, which led all the nation’s counties.
19 - Number of states in which Hispanics are the largest race or ethnic minority group.

Businesses
1.6 million - The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002.
Triple - The rate of growth of Hispanic-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 (31%) compared to the national average (10%) for all businesses.
$222 billion - Revenue generated by Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002, up 19% from 1997.
44% . . . of all Hispanic-owned firms were owned by people of Mexican origin.
29,184 - Number of Hispanic-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more.
Nearly 3-in-10 Hispanic-owned firms operated in construction and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. Retail and wholesale trade accounted for 36% of Hispanic-owned business revenue.
States with the fastest rates of growth for Hispanic-owned firms between 1997 and 2002 included New York (57%), Rhode Island and Georgia (56% each), and Nevada and South Carolina (48% each).
Counties with the highest number of Hispanic-owned firms were Los Angeles County, Calif. (188,472); Miami-Dade County, Fla. (163,188); Harris County, Texas (61,934); and Bronx County, N.Y. (38,325).

Families and Children
9.5 million - The number of Hispanic families who reside in the United States. Of these families, 63% include their children under 18 years old.
67% - The percentage of Hispanic families consisting of a married couple.
44% - The percentage of Hispanic families consisting of a married couple with children under the age of 18.
65% - Percentage of Hispanic children living with two parents.
22%
Percentage of population under age 5 that is Hispanic, as of July 1, 2005.

Spanish Language - 31 million
The number of U.S. household residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home. Spanish speakers constitute a ratio of more than 1-in-10 U.S. household residents. Among all those who speak Spanish at home, more than one-half say they speak English "very well."

Coming to America
53% - Percentage of the foreign-born population from Latin America. This amounts to 18.3 million people.
10 million - The number of foreign-born people who were born in Mexico, by far more than any other Latin American country or any other country in the world for that matter. Other countries of birth that contribute large numbers of Hispanics are El Salvador (937,000), Cuba (925,000), the Dominican Republic (688,000), Guatemala (590,000) and Colombia (500,000). (The difference between the estimates for El Salvador and Cuba is not statistically significant.)
4 . . . states are home to about 2 of every 3 foreign-born persons born in Latin America. Those states are California, Florida, New York, and Texas.

Income and Poverty
$34,241 - The real median income of Hispanic households in 2004, unchanged from the previous year.
21.9% - The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2004, unchanged from 2003.
32.7% - The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2004 unchanged from 2003.

Education
58% - The percentage of Hispanics age 25 and older who had at least a high school education in 2004.
12% - The percentage of the Hispanic population age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2004.
2.7 million - The number of Hispanics age 18 and older who had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2004.
714,000 - Number of Hispanics 25 years and older with advanced degrees in 2004 (e.g., master’s, professional, doctorate).
11% - Percentage of all college students in October 2004 who were Hispanic.

Jobs
68% - Percentage of Hispanics age 16 and older who are in the civilian labor force.
18% - The percentage of Hispanics who work in managerial, professional and related occupations. Approximately 24% of Hispanics work in service occupations, 22% in sales and office jobs, 15% in construction, extraction and maintenance jobs and 19% in production, transportation and material moving occupations. (The difference between the proportions working in managerial, professional and related occupations and in production, transportation and material moving occupations is not statistically significant.)

Voting
7.6 million - The number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2004 presidential election. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting—about 47%—did not change from four years earlier.

Serving our Country
1.1 million - The number of Hispanic veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Hispanic American Countries of Origin
Over 35 million people identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino on the 2000 census