Hispanic Heritage Month is a thirty-day-long celebration to honor the contributions of America’s Hispanic and Latin American communities that begins on September 15th. The kickoff date is significant, as September 15th is also the anniversary of national independence for Latin American countries including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Hispanic Heritage Month began as a week-long celebration which was then lengthened to a month nearly 20 years later. The bill for the extension of Hispanic Heritage Month was submitted by Congressman Estaban Torres (D-CA), and though his initial effort failed, a version of the same bill was signed into law under President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
Torres defined the purpose of Hispanic Heritage Month this way: “We want the public to know that we share a legacy with the rest of the country, a legacy that includes artists, writers, Olympic champions, and leaders in business, government, cinema, and science.”
In the Hispanic Student Alliance, our members have spent their time highlighting important Hispanic figures of their choice and sharing what they have learned. The answers to the following crossword puzzle represent some of the Hispanic leaders we chose to recognise this month. Half of them are more common household names and half you may never have heard of before. The hints for each name will be a brief biographical summary including one or two things they have accomplished; However, if you check the answer key, there will also be a fun fact provided for each person! We hope you learn something. Please enjoy!
