September 7, 2017 Library of Congress to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month 2017

The Library of Congress celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, with a collections display and series of lectures, concerts, book talks and other programs and initiatives. The programs are being hosted by various divisions throughout the Library. All events are free, but tickets are required for some, and there may be special restrictions.

Kicking off the month-long celebration will be a concert with Eva Ybarra, the “Queen of the Accordion” on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at noon in the Coolidge Auditorium on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Ybarra is one of only a few professional women accordionists in conjunto music. Conjunto originated in the late 19th century in working-class communities along the Texas-Mexico border and is distinct to that region. As the leader of her group Eva Ybarra y Su Conjunto, Ybarra has specialized in writing and composing original music, advancing the art form’s evolution. The concert is free and open to the public, tickets are not required.

To continue the festivities, the Library has planned an array of programs, displays and digital offerings that celebrate the rich and long history of Hispanic identity, civilization and culture:

Award Ceremony

Friday, Sept. 22
2:30 p.m. (Whittall Pavilion, ground floor, Thomas Jefferson Building)
2017 Américas Award Ceremony
A ceremony celebrating the Américas Award, which is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore or selected nonfiction published in the previous year that authentically portray Latin America, the Caribbean or Latinos in the United States. The Library presents this award in collaboration with the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) on a yearly basis.

Free, no tickets required. Visit hispanicheritagemonth.gov for more information.

Concert

Tuesday, Sept. 26
7 p.m. (Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Building)
“Latin Pop: A Cultural Fusion”
Singer-songwriter Chris Urquiaga will perform iconic Latin pop songs in Spanish and Portuguese and of various genres, including bossa nova and salsa.

The event is free, but tickets are required, and there may be special restrictions. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site. 

Lecture/Book Talk

Wednesday, Oct. 11
3 p.m. (Whittall Pavilion, ground floor, Thomas Jefferson Building)
“Francisco de Miranda and the United States”
Art historian Claudia Isabel Navas will deliver a lecture on Hispanic revolutionary Francisco de Miranda and his involvement in the Siege of Pensacola of 1781.

The event is free, but tickets are required, and there may be special restrictions. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site. 

Thursday, Oct. 12
Noon (Mary Pickford Theater, third floor, James Madison Building)
“Mexico’s Nobodies”
Professor Chrissy Arce (University of Miami) will present her new book, “Mexico’s Nobodies: The Cultural Legacy of the Soldadera and Afro-Mexican Women” (State University of New York Press, 2017). The book examines key figures of Mexican history who have remained anonymous despite their proliferation in the arts.

The event is free, but tickets are required, and there may be special restrictions. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site. 

Film Screening

Friday, Oct. 13
7 p.m. (Mary Pickford Theater, third floor, James Madison Building)
“Selena” (Warner Bros., 1997)
Biographical musical-drama about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a recording artist well-known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico who was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club, at the age of 23.

The event is free, but tickets are required, and there may be special restrictions. To secure tickets, visit this event-ticketing site. 

Collection Display

Monday, Sept. 11 – Saturday, Nov. 11
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Great Hall, Thomas Jefferson Building)

The Library will hold an exhibition detailing the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month and the contributions of Latinos to the history of the United States. The exhibition will showcase a diverse selection of items from the Library’s collection including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s autobiography, photographs from the Veterans History Project and letters from Latino congressmen celebrating the importance of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Free, no tickets required, visit hispanicheritagemonth.gov for more information.

Digital Offerings

Founded in 1943, the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape is an audio archive that has captured the voices of more than 750 poets and prose writers from the Luso-Hispanic world, representing 32 countries and more than 10 languages spoken in the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. Fifty new audio recordings of prominent Hispanic writers including Chilean writer Isabel Allende, Peruvian poet Martín Adán, Mexican writers Álvaro Enrigue and Valeria Luiselli, Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez and Argentine writer César Aira, will be added to the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape online feature  during the Hispanic Heritage Month commemoration. 

Pinterest Users

Pinterest users are invited to enjoy the Library’s Hispanic Heritage Month Pinterest board, featuring resources and items from the Library of Congress collections.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.