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28. Our Hispanic heritage:
​     O
n Exhibit and Yet Hidden

By Miguel Pérez

​On a concrete courtyard in upper Manhattan, a group of Hispanic boys were playing stickball, totally oblivious of the treasures that hung on the other side of the walls that embraced their play area.

"Do you know what's inside?" I asked them, pretending to be clueless and pointing to one of the buildings.

"Some kind of museum," one of them responded.

"You don't know what kind?" I insisted.

The boy shrugged his shoulders and went back to his game.

Sometimes our Hispanic heritage is hidden right before our eyes!

On the other side of that wall, there are masterpieces by Goya, El Greco, Sorolla, Velazquez and Murillo. There are Spanish paintings, drawings and sculptures dating back to the Middle Ages. There are prints, textiles, metal works, ceramics, glass and many other unique antiquities by Spain and Latin America's most prominent artists. There are more than 600,000 books, manuscripts, documents and letters that go all the way back to the 10th century.

They were playing stickball in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library, right in front of an impressive statue of the legendary Spanish liberator El Cid, and they had no clue that they were only a few feet away from a fountain of knowledge about their own heritage — "the most extensive collection of Hispanic art and literature outside of Spain and Latin America."

But I couldn't blame those boys for not having discovered their roots. I couldn't even blame their parents when they too are oblivious to having such an amazing place right in the middle of their predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Washington Heights on the upper west side of Manhattan.

After all, as luck would have it with most things that have to do with Hispanic heritage, this wonderful museum and library has long been regarded as one of the "hidden treasures" or "best kept secrets" of New York City.

Art critics and travel writers usually blame its obscurity on its location, which is on Broadway, between 155th and 156th Streets, near the George Washington Bridge. Since it's in the middle of the city's Dominican-American barrio, a few miles north of the many midtown Manhattan museums frequented by New York tourists, this museum is visited by considerably fewer people than even the less important galleries in Midtown.

But it's not just the tourists that miss seeing the largest collection of Spanish treasures this side of Madrid's Museo del Prado. Amazingly, most New Yorkers, including many Latinos, don't even know it exists!

This proves that to rediscover America's hidden Hispanic heritage, sometimes you don't have to travel a long distance to some remote Spanish mission in the Southwest or California, to Old San Juan or Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial, or to the first permanent settlement in Florida. Sometimes, even if you live in the Northeast, there is hidden Hispanic heritage just waiting to be rediscovered.

"We are a rare books library. ... We are a prints and photographs department. We are a study center, particularly medieval studies. ... We are a publications program, and we are a museum — so there is an awful lot going on under the roof and a lot that people don't see," explains Marcus Burke, the museum's senior curator. "Although anyone can go in the library, it's open on demand to any adult with a serious interest in Hispanic culture."

But what about the youth? What about the stickball players I met a few years ago?

In the past few years, Burke says, things have changed dramatically.

"We have an extremely ... proactive education program," he says. "We go out to local schools. We bring school children in constantly."

While many tourists still may stay in Midtown, the museum has embraced the Dominican-American community that surrounds it. Now the museum recognizes the huge potential of being in a neighborhood of immigrants who came to came to New York with a good understanding of their Spanish colonial heritage.

"We have the great fortune to be in the middle of a Dominican barrio, and it has made all the difference where we are," Burke says. "It's just been wonderful, the result of that group coming in."

He says several museum employees now are Dominicans, and new collaborations have been initiated with art institutions in the Dominican Republic. He says now community music and dance groups are frequently asked to perform at the museum. "So this is something we are very aware of indeed!" he adds.

As you enter the Hispanic Society of America, where admission is free, you feel yourself going through a time warp that takes you back several centuries, not unlike the time travel one makes when entering the Spanish churches and mission throughout the Southwest and California, or the Castillo de San Marcos Fortress in St. Augustine, Fla.

Once inside this time warp in upper Manhattan, one is immediately confronted with the museum's most renowned painting: Francisco de Goya's "Portrait of the Duchess of Alba" (1797), a lady dressed in black and pointing a finger to the floor, as if imperiously demanding that you kneel before her.

But even before you can begin to behold the many treasures on exhibit there, you can't help being awed just by the hall itself. With its galleries walled with intricately carved terra cotta wood, it's like entering an ancient cathedral during Spain's Gold Age.

As you walk through, you may be struck by Diego Velazquez's amazingly vivid "Portrait of a Little Girl" (c. 1638-44), which is believed to be a portrait of his own granddaughter. Or by El Greco's "Holy Family." Or by an entire room where the great Spanish impressionist Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) presents his "Vision of Spain" in 14 huge canvasses depicting the people, landscape and culture of the various regions of Spain — from fishermen to cattle ranchers, from bullfighters to flamenco dancers.

"We are also the guardians of an immense number of objects," Burke says. "In the library alone, we have 15,000 rare books (published) before 1700. That's a collection the size of the national library of Spain." In this library, you are likely to find the first editions of some of the most significant works of Spanish literature, from "Don Quixote" to "Celestina" and "Tirant lo Blanc."

It has 20,000 other rare books from 1701 to 1830, and more than 300,000 other books focusing on Hispanic culture and published since 1830. It has 125,000 Latin American big band recordings, 225,000 manuscripts going back to the 12th century, letters from Elizabeth of England to Philip II of Spain, the signatures of the conquistadores, 17,000 prints and posters, including most of the works of Goya, 150,000 ethnographic photographs going back to the 1840s and a map of the world that was drawn in 1526 by Juan Vespucci, Amerigo Vespucci's nephew.

And this world-class museum is constantly lending portions of its massive collections for special exhibits in museums, libraries and other cultural institutions around the world where, ironically, they often get better exposure than they do in New York. Sorrolla's "Vision of Spain" may not get many tourists from Midtown, but when the collection went on a tour of Spanish museums, it broke attendance records, becoming one of the most successful exhibitions in Spanish history.

Housed in an impressive Beaux Arts complex called Audubon Terrace, where the names of the conquistadors are carved on the walls, the Hispanic Society was built in 1904 by Archer M. Huntington, the heir of a vast railroad fortune and a lifelong lover of Spanish art and culture. He wanted to establish a center that would collect, care for, study, interpret and exhibit the cultures of ancient Iberia, Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

And more than a century later, it's great to see that other non-Latino scholars still are accomplishing his mission — including people like Mr. Burke and his colleagues, who are not all Hispanic and yet are great champions of Hispanic culture. (See my recent TV interview with Mr. Burke, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-q3o-3F_xA)

"North Americans tend to think of ourselves as 'America,' right? But it was Latin America that was the first America," Burke says, explaining that Latin America had art and culture long before North America. "And it's that America that we exhibit — the first America."

And that makes me a huge fan. For my series of columns in search for "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage," I expect to spend more time in New York's Dominican barrio, where that heritage is waiting to be rediscovered. Stay tuned. I'm going treasure hunting in upper Manhattan.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM
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En español:
Nuestra Herencia Hispana:

En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

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My Bronx Journal TV discussion
with Senior Curator Marcus Burke:
New report on the Hispanic Society of America by journalist (and friend) Natalia Rivera. Bravo!
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next chapter
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Hidden Hispanic Heritage

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                   CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS

1. Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
Nuestros Días de Acción de Gracias Pre-Mayflower
               
2. A Tale of Two Cities
                 
3. Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
              

4. The Black Legend Returns

4. La Leyenda Negra Regresa
                
5. Even on HBO, The Black Legend Lives
                   
6. Our Spanish Heritage
                     
7. Exalted or Offended?
                    
8. We are all 'Americanos'
                  
9. Latinos are Failing
                  
10. Hispanic, Columbus or Indigenous Day?
10. 
™Dia Hispano, De Colon o Indigena?
                   
11. Two Good Places to Rest
11. Dos buenos lugares para descansar
                  
12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter
12. La Carta Profética de Whitman
                  
13. America’s Cradle
13. La Cuna de America
                 
14. Our Quincentennial is Coming!

14. ´Nuestro Quinto Centenario Se Avecina!
                   
15. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29
                
16. A Time To Welcome the Spirits
                  
17. A Hispanic Christmas
17. Una Navidad Hispana
                  
18. JOSE MARTI:
     His Legacy Lives Here
     Su Legado Vive Aquí 
                
19. Hyphenated and Proud!
                   
20. Politicizing Education

21. Speak Any Spanish Lately?
              
22. Happy Three Kings Day!
22. ​
´Feliz Día de Reyes!
               
23. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29

24. A Long-Overdue Museum
                 
25. America's First Christmas was celebrated in Spanish
25. La Primera Navidad Americana fue celebrada en español

26. The Grand Canyon
and the Bucket List
 Of Hispanic Heritage
26. El Gran Canyon
y la Lista de Lugares de la Herencia Hispana

                  
27. Now That Fiesta Month Is Here,
Can We Talk About Heritage?

27. Ahora que el mes de fiesta hispana esta aquí,

​™Podemos hablar de nuestra herencia?
                  
28. Our Hispanic Heritage: On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
28. Nuestra Herencia Hispana: En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

29. Florida's Birthday Should Be a National Holiday

             
30. A Local Celebration that Should be National               

31. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 30               
​

32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
32. La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

33. Guantanamo Has a History  June 4, 2013

34. Exposing the Social Media Bigots  June 18, 2013
34. Exponiendo a los Intolerantes
     de los Medios Sociales June 18, 2013

35. Thinking of Cusi On the Fourth of July
35. Pensando en Cusi en el Cuatro de Julio

36. The Discovery of White Hispanics
36.  El Descubrimiento de los Hispanos Blancos

37. Let's Build a Timeline Of Hispanic-American History
37. Vamos a Construir una Cronología
     De la Historia Hispanoamericana

38. In the Name of Heritage
38. En el Nombre de la Herencia

39. Hispanics or Latinos?
39. ™Hispanos o Latinos?

40.  Hollywood's Hidden Hispanic Heritage
40. La Herencia Hispana Oculta en Hollywood

41. Obliviously Living in ‘The Land of Estevan Gomez’
41. Viviendo Inconscientemente
       En la ‘Tierra de Estevan Gómez’

42. Marking America's Birthplace
42. Marcando el Lugar de Nacimiento De Estados Unidos

43. Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
43. Los Hispanos en Rechazo Deben Ser Infames

44. 
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History
      Started in Spanish
 CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY
44. La Historia Oculta del Matrimonio Gay
      En América Comenzó en Español
        EL VIAJE DE CABEZA DE VACA​

45. Super Bowl Coke Commercial
       Draws Out Ugly Americans

45. Comercial de Coke en Super Bowl
     Hace Relucir a los Americanos Feos


46. 
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
46. El ‘Descubrimiento' de los
     Hispanos que se Auto Desprecian


THE GREAT HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR 
June 2014 - January 2015


47. My Pilgrimage to San Xavier
47. Mi Peregrinaje a San Xavier

48. The Great Hispanic American History Tour
48. La Gran Gira por la Historia Hispanoamericana

49. On the Trail of Conquistadors
49. En el Camino de los Conquistadores

50. Beyond St. Augustine
50. Más Allá de San Agustín

51. A Hidden Hispanic Role Model
51. Un Modelo Hispano Oculto

52. The Hispanic Flank of the American Revolution
52. El Flanco Hispano de la Revolucion Americana
​

53. New Orleans Has a Spanish ‘Ne Sais Quoi’
53. Nueva Orleans Tiene Un ‘Ne Sais Quoi’ Español

54. Galveston: Still the Isle of Misfortune?

55. Extracting Compacted History
     Unveils Hidden Hispanic Heritage

56. 'Remember The Alamo' Was a Spanish Mission

57. San Antonio: The Showcase Of Our Hispanic Heritage

58. There Was Compassion On the Spanish Mission Trail

59. A Hidden Latina Role Model

60. Time Portals on the Road

61. The First Thanksgiving
     In the (Southwest) United States

62. The World's Biggest Statue
of a Nameless Horseback Rider


63. A River Runs Through Our Hispanic Heritage

64. A Beacon of Hope On a Border Mountaintop

65. A Mexican-American Town
65. Un Pueblo Mexico-Americano

66. The Crossroads of Conquistadors

67. Hiking In Search of Coronado's Trail

68. The Real American Pioneers

69. Keeping My Pledge to San Xavier

70. If They Knew Arizona's History,
     They Wouldn't Be So Xenophobic

71. 'Tucson' is a Spanish Adaptation

72. Under a Utah Lake, Hispanic Heritage Lives

73. A Hilltop View Of Hispanic Heritage

74. Searching for Coronado's Quivira

75. The Spanish Savior of St. Louis

76. 
Jefferson's Spanish Library

WASHINGTON, D.C.
February-June 2015

77. When Galvez Came to Congress
77. Cuando Gálvez Vino al Congreso


78. A Tour of Our Extraordinarily Hispanic U.S. Capitol

79. Searching for Not-S0-Hidden
Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC


80. Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit
80. Smithsonian Omite a los Hispanos
     en Exhibición de Historia de EE.UU.
MIAMI - August 2015
​
81. Finding Dad in a Museum
81. Encontre a Mi Padre en un Museo


​CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP - 2018
82. International Friendship Park ​at U.S.-Mexico Border
​- A Jagged Corner of the World


83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
​
84. Cabrillo National Monument

85. ​It took more than 2 centuries

86. Presidio Park: The Birthplace
of the Spanish Colonization of California


87. Junípero Serra Museum Transcends the Story of a Great Man

88. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá:
California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (Padre) Dam: California's First Aqueduct

90. Even at the beach in San Diego, you can't avoid Spanish history

91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American ​painted under highway ramps

92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes amid a painful controversy!

93. San Diego: An American Town
Named After the Saint from Alcalá

93. San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano
Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá


94. San Luis Rey de Francia: The King of the California Missions
94. San Luis Rey de Francia: ​El Rey de las Misiones de California

95. San Antonio de Pala:
A Sub-Mission to Reach
 the Natives of the Interior
95. San Antonio de Pala:
Una Asistencia para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

96. San Juan Capistrano:
The Home of the Mission Swallows
 from Argentina
96. San Juan Capistrano:
El Hogar de las Golondrinas Desaparecidas ​de Argentina

97. San Gabriel Arcángel: A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcángel: Una Misión Que Lanzó Ciudades

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanics had to be imported

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanos tuvieron que sen importados


99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
A Walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
Un Paseo por la historia 
​mexicoamericana


100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
​100. Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España Teaches
California's Colonial History

101. ​​San Fernando Rey de España Enseña
la historia colonial de California


​102. Mission San Buenaventura Survived Earthquakes and Pirates
102. Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió Terremotos y Piratas

​103. Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
​overlooking ​the land he shepherded

​103. La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
​con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

106. Mission Santa Ines: Built to relieve other overcrowded missions
106. Misión Santa Inés: Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas

107. Mission La Purísima Concepcion:
​Going back in time ​to Spanish California

107. Mision La Purísima Concepción:
Retrocediendo en ​el tiempo a la California española


XXX. Saluting an exile: ​Father Félix Varela
XXX. The Meaning of 'Sotomayor'
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• Great (pro-Hispanic) Americans
​
• 16th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 17th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 18th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
​
• Spanish-American expeditions before Jamestown
• NYC ​Hispanic Landmarks
• NYC Hispanic Art
• Do You Know/Sabes?
• Garita Art
​
• Do You Speak Spanglish?
HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE
​1513 Ponce de Leon Discovers North America, Names Her 'Florida'

April 22, 1513 ​Alaminos discovers the Gulf Stream

1517 De Cordoba, wounded in Yucatan, stops in Florida

1518 Grijalva Reaches Galveston Island

1519 De Pineda confirms Florida ​is not an island​

1521 Ponce de Leon Returns to Florida, Falls Mortally Wounded

1524-25 Estevan Gomez Explores North America's East Coast

1526 Ayllón lands in S.C., settles in Georgia


1528 Narváez expedition succumbs to storms and natives

1528-36 Cabeza de Vaca treks across North America

1537-42 Cabeza de Vaca Returns to Spain, Writes 'La Relación'

1539 De Niza Searches for Golden Cities of Cibola
​

1539-42 De Soto celebrates first American Christmas

1540 Hernando de Alarcon Reaches California

1540-42 Coronado Explores the Southwest,
Cardenas Discovers ​the Grand Canyon


1542-43  ​Cabrillo explores California coast​

1559 De Luna Builds Santa Maria de Ochuse​


1565 Pedro Menendez de Avilés Establishes San Agustin

1566 Santa Elena Built in South Carolina

1598 ​Juan de Oñate Explores New Mexico

1602 Sebastian Vizcaino ​explores the West Coast

1610 Pedro de Peralta establishes Santa Fe

1610-26 The Birth of San Miguel, oldest church in the U.S.A.

1613 Juan Rodriguez becomes the first Manhattan immigrant

1633 Misión San Luis de Apalachee is born in Tallahassee

​1682 San Antonio de la Ysleta becomes first mission in Texas

1691 Father Eusebio Kino builds Tumacácori and Guevavi

1692 ​Father Kino builds San Xavier del Bac 

1692 Diego de Vargas leads ​'Bloodless Reconquest" of Santa Fe

1695 Castillo de San Marcos ​Completed in St. Augustine

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is born
​- long before it became The Alamo
​

1738 Runaway slaves establish Fort Mose,
​the first free African-American community​


​1738 Francisco Menendez Leads Fort Mose

1742 Spanish Soldiers ​Open Fort Matanzas

1752 Spanish Soldiers Build Presidio de Tubac

1763 Spanish Florida Goes to England

1765 Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera ​explores ​Colorado and Utah
​
1769 
Father Serra opens ​San Diego de Alcalá,
California's first ​Spanish mission


1771 Father Serra establishes San Gabriel Arcángel

1772 Good hunting determines site
​of ​Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa


1775 Captain Hugh O’Connor
​builds Presidio San Agustin del Tucson


​1776-83 Hispanics in the American Revolution

1776 The Birth of San Francisco

1781 Spanish troops defeat the British, capture Pensacola

1781 Pobladores of Los Angeles are imported

1791 ​Alessandro Malaspina Alaska Reaches Alaska

1797 Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Establishes Misión San Fernando Rey de España


1797 The Birth of Villa de Branciforte

Herencia Hispana Oculta de America:
La Lista de Lugares, Ideas, y Evidencia Historica para Reconectár a los Americanos con sus Raíces Hispanas

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America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
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  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA