National Hispanic Heritage Month is under way

About National Hispanic Heritage Month

Unlike most heritage months, this one does not follow the calendar. It runs for 31 days, from September 15 to October 15, and celebrates Americans whose families trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean. Federal museums and libraries, schools and community groups fill the period with exhibits, concerts, festivals and history lessons.

It began as a week. In June 1968 Representative George E. Brown of California introduced a joint resolution asking the president to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week each year during the week that included September 15 and 16. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law as Public Law 90-498 on September 17, 1968, and issued the first proclamation the same day. Twenty years later, bills from Representative Esteban Torres and Senator Paul Simon led to Public Law 100-402, which President Ronald Reagan signed on August 17, 1988. It replaced the week with the 31-day period beginning September 15 and ending October 15.

The starting date is deliberate. September 15 is the independence anniversary of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which declared independence from Spain in 1821, and Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence on September 16 and September 18. October 12, marked in many Spanish-speaking countries as Día de la Raza, also falls inside the period. Presidents continue to issue a proclamation each year; the 2025 proclamation again covered September 15 through October 15.

Sources: National Archives, Prologue blog: Origins of National Hispanic Heritage Month, US Census Bureau: National Hispanic Heritage Month 2025, The White House: National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2025, American Presidency Project: Proclamation 3869, National Hispanic Heritage Week, 1968. How we check dates.

How to mark National Hispanic Heritage Month

• Attend a local Hispanic heritage festival, concert or folklórico dance performance.
• Read novels, poetry or history by Hispanic and Latino writers, and ask your library for recommendations.
• Cook a traditional dish from one of the countries that celebrates independence in mid-September, and learn the story behind it.
• Explore the exhibits and teaching resources gathered by the Library of Congress and other federal institutions on the official Hispanic Heritage Month website.
• Practice Spanish, or learn about Indigenous languages spoken in Latin America, through a local conversation group or library class.

National Hispanic Heritage Month dates