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“I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.” — Sonia Sotomayor
National Hispanic Heritage Month was proclaimed in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson and expanded by President Ronald Reagan (and sponsored by President George H.W. Bush) in 1988 to celebrate the contributions of the growing Hispanic population in our country. Beginning with the National Independence Day for many Latin American Countries, the month-long celebration extends to October 15.
The Mujeres Latinas Project is a collection of papers, oral histories, and mementos from the Latina women who have contributed to Iowa’s history. Women including Nancy Barcelo’, an administrator at the University of Iowa, and Maria Martinez Cano, who was instrumental in creating the Spanish language interpreter program at the University of Iowa Hospitals, have shared their records in addition to a range of printed and recorded collections.
Established in 1992, the Iowa Women’s Archives is named for its founders, two prominent Des Moines women who conceived the idea of a repository that would collect solely on Iowa women and who worked to bring it to fruition. Louise Noun was an art collector, historian, social activist, and philanthropist. Mary Louise Smith was a Republican Party activist and the first woman to chair the Republican National Committee, serving from 1974 to 1977. Louise Noun first recognized the need for a women’s repository as she researched her 1969 book on the history of women’s suffrage in Iowa, Strong-Minded Women. She later shared with Mary Louise Smith her frustration about the scarcity of primary sources by and about women, and the two determined to establish a repository to document the experiences and achievements of the women of Iowa. In 1991 Louise Noun auctioned the Frida Kahlo painting “Self-Portrait with Loose Hair” to permanently endow the archives.
We’re proud to honor the many women whose roles in our history are often unknown, including the history of Latinas whose culture has contributed to our heritage since the 1880s. Many Latina women are strong role models in our country today, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, the Chrysalis INSPIRED Event 2019 keynote speaker.
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