HIDDEN HISPANIC HERITAGE
MENU
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US/QUIENES SOMOS
  • CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • ON FACEBOOK
  • IN THE NEWS/NOTICIAS
  • ACCOLADES/ELOGIOS
  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MY STUDENTS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA

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

By Miguel Pérez

​
April 21, 2015 - 
When we go to our nation's capital, mostly as tourists trying to make time to cover all the major attractions, we seldom find enough time to visit some smaller sites that would be monumental if they were elsewhere.

Washington has so many statues, sculptured buildings, busts, monuments and other outdoor attractions that it's easy to overlook many of them — even when some could have special significance to you.

This is especially true for U.S. Latinos, who often fail to see how much Hispanic heritage is on display in Washington.

When we take a tour of the Capitol — as we did in my most recent column — we often are surprised to find that there is enough Hispanic heritage art there to fill a small museum. But when you go out on the streets of the city and you search for Hispanic heritage, you find that it was hidden right before your eyes.

In fact, there are so many "Hispanic Heroes in Our Nation's Capital" that the National Park Service has created the "Statues of the Liberators, Hispanic Heroes Walking Tour" along Virginia Avenue, stretching from Constitution Avenue to New Hampshire Avenue.

Just by calling a number from your cellphone, you can even take a guided tour of the 10-block stretch, which features a series of impressive statues "commemorating the roles of Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, Benito Juarez, Jose Gervasio Artigas, and Bernardo de Galvez in the establishment of the independent nations of the Americas," according to a National Park Service pamphlet promoting the tour. It notes that the statues were gifts from Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela, highlighting "the bond between the United States and the nations of Latin America."

The tour also makes a stop at the neoclassical building that serves as the headquarters of the Organization of American States, on 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, where "more memorials that celebrate Latin America's indigenous, artistic, literary, and political achievements are located throughout its grounds."

Greeting you at the main entrance of the OAS building is an impressing statue of Isabella I, "the Catholic Queen of Castile, Aragon and islands and mainland of the Ocean Sea," who sent Hispanic heritage to the New World.

But as you walk along the OAS grounds, your Hispanic batteries keep getting recharged by the sight of numerous busts honoring Latin American patriots, including Cuba's Jose Marti, the Dominican Republic's Juan Pablo Duarte, and writers, including Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chilean poets Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, Mexican poet Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Venezuelan novelists Teresa de la Parra and Romulo Gallegos.

You see other busts honoring political figures, from Bolivar to former Ecuadorean President Jose Eloy Alfaro Delgado to former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Peruvian indigenous leader Tupac Amaru II.

As you walk the streets of Washington, if you are not looking for them, you will probably miss its many tributes to Hispanic heritage. But I was on my Great Hispanic American History Tour, and I was finding them everywhere.

Even some of Washington's war memorials have special significance to Latinos, many of whom have known someone who fought or died for this country. But at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where all our dead heroes are listed by name and where Hispanic surnames are abundant, you don't even have to have known anyone to recognize the magnitude of Hispanic sacrifice for this nation.

Although not included in the "Statues of the Liberators" walking tour, just a few blocks northeast of Virginia Avenue, you'll find the Farragut West and Farragut North Metro stations, both near Farragut Square — all named after Adm. David G. Farragut, the Hispanic Civil War hero who led and won major battles for the Union Navy. Just two blocks from the White House, a towering statue of Farragut centers the plaza. But unless you read the marker near the monument, you probably don't know that he was "the son of Jorge Farragut, a Spanish-born mariner and hero of the American Revolution."

If you are a Latino reading that marker for the first time, surely you gain a better understanding of how deeply your ancestral roots are planted here, and you may also feel proud of how far in history your ancestors have been sacrificing to build this great nation.

Although Farragut was left out of the Hispanic heroes tour, the National Park Service deserves kudos for not only creating the guided walking tour of the "Statues of the Liberators" and the OAS grounds but also recognizing that most Latin American nations have strong connections to the American fight for freedom and liberty.

"The American Revolutionary War and the resulting establishment of the United States of America triggered a series of events in the Americas, where colonies of the European powers saw another model and chose to govern themselves," notes the tour pamphlet.

Most people don't know that even before Latinos fought for their own homelands' independence from Spain, many Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, Mexicans and other Hispanics fought with Spain against Great Britain during the American Revolution or that it was U.S. independence that inspired and ignited freedom movements throughout the Americas.

"Between 1808 and 1826, all of the Spanish holdings in the Americas, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, would gain their independence in a series of military engagements known as the Wars of Independence," the tour pamphlet explains. "The liberators Artigas, Bolivar, Juarez, and San Martin were strongly influenced by the republican ideals in the U.S. and Galvez was directly involved with the success of the American Revolution as the Spanish Governor of Louisiana during the conflict."

To follow the "Statues of the Liberators, Hispanic Heroes Walking Tour" with an audio narrative, call 202-595-1730 and follow the instructions. You'll be greeted by a recorded narrator, who calls Virginia Avenue "the Avenue of the Americas" and explains that this row of Hispanic heroes "evolved over many years" as various countries donated the statues to the United States. Once you get to each statue, you press a keypad number and listen to the biography of each liberator.

"The monuments to these heroes link our countries through a sense of independence and camaraderie," the tour pamphlet declares. "These statues tell a story of freedom movements in the Americas and their connection to the United States."

The Great Hispanic American History Tour found Hispanic heritage all over our nation's capital, some of it hidden right before our eyes, teaching us to be more conscious of our ancestral roots. But we also found Hispanic heritage that has been purposely hidden, omitted history that will be exposed when our tour makes another stop in Washington. Stay tuned.

COPYRIGHT 2015 CREATORS.COM
Picture
REINA YSABEL I - LA CATOLICA
Miguel Perez
JOSÉ DE SAN MARTIN
JOSÉ DE SAN MARTIN
SIMÓN BOLIVAR
SIMÓN BOLIVAR
ADMIRAL DAVID FARRAGUT
ADMIRAL DAVID FARRAGUT
Picture
BENITO JUAREZ
BERNARDO DE GALVEZ
BERNARDO DE GALVEZ
JOSÉ GERVASIO ARTIGAS
JOSÉ GERVASIO ARTIGAS . By José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (Wikimedia Commons)
JUAN PABLO DUARTE DÍEZ
JUAN PABLO DUARTE DÍEZ
JOSÉ MARTÍ
JOSÉ MARTÍ
Simón Bolivar
Simon Bolivar
José Eloy Alfaro Delgado
José Eloy Alfaro Delgado
GABRIELA MISTRAL
GABRIELA MISTRAL
PABLO NERUDA
PABLO NERUDA
Luis Ignácio LULA da Silva
Luis Ignácio LULA da Silva
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
TERESA DE LA PARRA
TERESA DE LA PARRA
ROMULO GALLEGOS
ROMULO GALLEGOS
TÚPAC AMARU II
TÚPAC AMARU II
JUANA INES DE LA CRUZ
JUANA INES DE LA CRUZ
Miguel Perez
My childhood friend Wilfredo "Cusi' Pantaleon Zamora is on the Vietnam War Memorial, and that's my reflection as I took a photo of his name.
Picture
Statues of the Liberatorrs - Walking Tour
To enlarge these images, click on them!
Picture
Picture
Please share this article with your friends on social media:
Tweet
Picture
So what do you think? / ™Entonces, qué piensas?
Please join our dialogue on Facebook / Por favor únete a nuestro diálogo en Facebook
Hidden Hispanic Heritage

​And to share, please click on these buttons:

Y para compartir, por favor haga clic sobre estos botones:

                   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

Picture
America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US/QUIENES SOMOS
  • CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • ON FACEBOOK
  • IN THE NEWS/NOTICIAS
  • ACCOLADES/ELOGIOS
  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MY STUDENTS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA