This month we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. From September 15 to October 15, we honor the history and culture of those who identify as Hispanic and Latinx (this includes those who are or are descendant from those who are from a Spanish-speaking country and from Latin America). September marks the anniversary of independence for many countries in Central America from Spanish colonial rule during the early nineteenth century. Here in the United States, we started to observe this anniversary in 1968 before it was later expanded to include Columbus Day in 1988. During that same year, Hispanic Heritage Month became legally recognized in the United States.

This year we have put on a display near the library entrance. Take a moment and try our trivia game. See if you can guess all the people depicted in the display! Below we have provided some additional information on one of those depicted this month.

SPOILER ALERT:

If you have not had chance to take the trivia game, we would suggest waiting before you finish reading the rest of this post.

More on Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, Sylvia Rivera advocated for transgender people’s right. She was there during several key moments, including the Stonewall Inn uprising, and fought with other gay rights activists to include transgender people. She worked with Marsha P. Johnson to establish the STAR House, a place where transgender people could go to organize and take shelter, and later the Transy House. Learn more by clicking the video below.

More on Sarah Gomez

Sarah Gomez was an Afro-Cuban filmmaker known for her feature length film “One Way or Another”. “One Way or Another” was about a romance between a factory worker and schoolteacher as well as their differing views of Revolutionary Cuba. She was a pioneering director who considered marginalized perspectives in her works during a transformative period in Cuba.

Learn more about Sarah Gomez here (you may have to be signed into remote access to see this resource).