The Hispanic heritage sites in the U.S. you need to know
- Russell Contreras, author of Axios Latino
The church of the Mission San Jose de Tumacacori. Tumacacori National Historical Park. Photo: Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The National Park Service lists more than 200 sites on its website that reflect American Latino heritage across the U.S.
- Axios Latino throughout September will showcase some of these landmarks and historic sites, as well as others as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month this year.
More of the sites listed by NPS are connected to Spanish colonial history, but in recent years, the agency has been adding landmarks about the Latino experience in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Those include the Trujillo Homesteads in Colorado and "The Forty Acres," a parcel of land in Delano, California, that became the headquarters for the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in 1966.
The intrigue: In response to complaints that Latino sites are hard to locate, the NPS has created a map to help visitors.
- The interactive map lets users point to sites and locate hours.
Flashback: An Axios review last year of public monuments and historic sites in the U.S. found few honoring Latinas of history outside of religious figures like La Virgen de Guadalupe or Virgen de la Divina Providencia.
Yes, but: The NPS today lists more sites connected to civil rights than in the past, and the agency is exploring how to save landmarks linked to Black and Latino civil rights.
- The agency said earlier this year nine sites in Mississippi connected with the 1955 murder of Emmett Till and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom project fit the requirements for the National Park System.
- President Biden in July signed a proclamation to establish a national monument honoring Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
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