Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage

Joyner, Brian

Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Hispanic Heritage highlights the Hispanic imprint on the built environment of the United States. This effort by the National Park Service and partners aims to increase the awareness of the historic places associated with the nation’s cultural and ethnic groups that are identified, documented, recognized, and interpreted. These constitute the foundation for Hispanic Reflections. Many of the examples are drawn from National Park Service cultural resources programs in partnership with other government agencies and private organizations. Hispanic heritage in the Americas begins with the Spanish “discovery” of Nueva España and the subsequent early contacts with indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. Later the infusion of Africans to the admixture helped to create a distinct Hispano heritage. Hispanic culture in North America commonly relates to the Spanish colonial past and Mexico, but since the second part of the 20th century, people from South and Central America and the Caribbean are transforming the nature of Hispanic culture. Recent scholarly research examines the impact of Hispanicinspired architectural, agricultural, and mining practices on the landscape. Simultaneously, of increasing interest to scholars are Hispanic self-identification and the locations of new communities. In the U.S. Census of 2000, Hispanics became the largest minority group in the U.S. at 12.5 percent, a rise of 57.9 percent from the previous census. The 2000 Census reflected congressional legislation that provided multiple ethnic affiliations. Hispanic heritage is primarily linked to the sizable populations in the western part of the United States. However, as the 2000 census statistics report, emigration and intermigration document Hispanics settling in new places throughout the nation, with significant increases in the South and Northeast. This publication is intended to support the historic preservation and cultural resource stewardship efforts of organizations and individuals within their communities. It is designed for the general reader, without a background in the study of Hispanic heritage.