Top of page

Category: Hispanic American History

Movie poster for "El Norte," with an illustration of young man and woman at bottom, framed by a silhouette of a bird opening its wings into a blue sky overhead

Finding Latinos in Film

Posted by: Maria Peña

In his epic “El Norte,” award-winning filmmaker Gregory Nava charted the tragic journey of siblings Enrique and Rosa from Guatemala to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American dream. The 1983 film was inducted into the Library's National Film Registry in 1995 and still resonate in this Hispanic Heritage Month, two decades into a new century. It's one of the highlights of the Library's work in preserving Latino films.

Wide shot of a woman looking up at a giant Redwood tree. The photo only shows the base of the tree, which is nearly 75 feet in circumference.

Ada Limón & Poetry in the National Parks!

Posted by: Neely Tucker

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón kicked off her "You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks" project at several National Parks around the country this summer, from Cape Cod to California. With installations in the parks, she's hoping to showcase "the ways reading and writing poetry can situate us in the natural world." Her tour continues in October at Florida's Everglades National Park and at Arizona's Saguaro National Park in December.

A colorful mural of Los Angeles history, with the face of a brown-skinned woman at left and pictures from various time periods portrayed in her flowing tresses.

L.A. As You’ve (Probably) Never Seen It

Posted by: Neely Tucker

To tell the history of Los Angeles, artist Barbara Carrasco wove vignette scenes through the flowing tresses of “la Reina de los Ángeles,” based on a portrait of her sister. The 80-foot mural stretches from prehistory (the La Brea Tar Pits) to the imagined future (Los Angeles International Airport’s Space Age Theme Building) with subjects ranging from the inspiring to grievous. Carrasco's original graphite design, depicting L.A. history flowing through long tresses of hair, now has a home in the Library.