Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Lauro Cavazos, first Hispanic member of US Cabinet

Lauro Cavazos, born January 4, 1927 in Kingsville, Texas, enlisted in the US Army in 1944 and served state-side in an infantry unit in the last days of WWII.  He enrolled at Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and majoring in journalism..  He transferred to Texas Technological  College (now Texas Tech University) and earned a BA and MS in zoology.  Later he earned a PhD in physiology from Iowa State University in 1954.

He was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi.

He became the president of Texas Tech University, becoming the first alumnus and first Hispanic to serve as Texas Tech president.  He served from 1980-1988, when President Reagan appointed him as Secretary of Education, making him the first Hispanic member in the US Cabinet.  He remained at the post until 1990, when he resigned.

After his resignation, he served as the Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine.  He passed away in March 2022. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Laura Harring, first Latina to win Miss USA

Laura Elena Harring Martinez, born March 3, 1964 in Los Mochis, Mexico, is the first Latina to win Miss USA.  She grew up in Mexico before she and her family relocated to San Antonio, Texas when she was ten.  At twelve, she suffered a head injury when she was caught in a crossfire from a driveby shooting at twelve.

After studying theater and dance in Europe, she moved to El Paso and began competing in beauty pageants.  She won Miss El Paso USA, Miss Texas USA, and then Miss USA 1985 becoming the first Hispanic woman to do so.  

She went on to have a successful acting career, most notable is her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: France L Silva, Medal of Honor Recipient

France Silva, born May 8, 1876 in Hayward, California, joined the Marine Corps in September 1899 in San Francisco and was assigned to the USS Newark.  In May 1900, Private France Silva was a member of the Legation Guards when the Newark sailed for China to help land allied troops to assist civilians during the Boxer Rebellion.

On June 23, 1900, the Regiment, under the command of Major Littleton Waller entered the Tianjin to protect the civilians and forced the Chinese forces to retreat.  Private Silva, along with several other marines and two sailors, earned the Medal of Honor in their defense of the civilian compound at Beijing.  He became the first US Marine of Mexican-American and Hispanic heritage to receive the Medal of Honor.

Silva passed away in April 1951 in Red Bluff, California.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Raul Cilloniz, Eduardo Dibos, first Hispanic NASCAR drivers

Raul Cilloniz and Eduardo Dibos, both born in Peru, were the first South American NASCAR drivers.  They raced in the 1959 Daytona 500, the inaugural race.  Cilloniz finished 12th, only eight laps behind the winner Lee Petty.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Katy Jurado, first Mexican-American actress to win a Golden Globe

Katy Jurado, born Maria Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado Garcia January, 16, 1924 in Mexico City, is the first Latin American actress to win a Golden Globe for her work in High Noon in 1952. She is the first Latin American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Broken Lance in 1954.

She began her film career in 1943 appearing in the Mexican film No mataras.  She appeared in 16 more films over the next seven years in what has been named the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.  

Jurado made her American cinema debut in Bullfighter and the Lady.  Although she was not interested in appearing in American films, she worked on numerous American western films.  She appeared in High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.  She starred in Arrowhead with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.

Jurado was married to Ernest Borgnine for four years, and had a romantic relationship with Western novelist Louis L'Amour.

She continued acting until 2002 when she appeared in her final film Un secreto de Esperanza, which was released after her death from kidney failure and pulmonary disease in July 2002.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Ignacio Molinet, first Hispanic player in the NFL

Ignacio "Lou" Molinet, born November 30, 1904 in Chaparra, Cuba, is the first Cuban and first Latin American to play in the National Football League. He attended Peddie School in New Jersey, and then enrolled in Cornell University, where he lettered twice in both basketball and football.  After his parents died after his sophomore year, he remained in Cuba.  

The Frankford Athletic Association contacted him to play for the Frankford Yellow Jackets, who were the defending NFL champion at the time, so he returned.  

In 1927, he rushed for 75 yards and passed for another 35 yards.  He caught several passes, and he scored a touchdown in a win over the Buffalo Bison. However, the Yellow Jackets fell below 0.500 and placed 7th in the standings.  Molinet returned to Cornell after only one season in the NFL, and finished his degree.

He passed away in August 1977.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Romualdo Pacheco, first Hispanic governor in US

Jose Romualdo Pacheco, born in Santa Barbara, California October 31, 1831, became the first Hispanic governor in the United States when he was served as governor of California in February 1875.  He is also the only Hispanic to server as Governor of California and the first Latino to represent a state in the US Congress.

After serving as an apprentice on a trading vessel during the Mexican-American War, he entered politics in 1850.  With prominent family connections, he sought the position of judge in San Luis Obispo and won at the age of 22.  He was elected to the state senate in 1857 and was re-elected twice.

When the Civil War broke out, he was appointed the rank of brigadier general by Governor Leland Stanford to disarm military companies in Los Angeles that weren't loyal to the Union.

Pacheco served as state treasurer of California from 1863-1867, then became Lieutenant Governor of California under Newton Booth. When Booth was elected to the US Senate in 1875, Pacheco served as governor from February to December 1875. 

He ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives and defeated the incumbent Peter Wigginton by one vote.  Wigginton contested the election and managed to overturn Pacheco's victory in 1878. Pacheco went into business until winning a House seat in September 1879 and was re-elected in 1880. 

After leaving Congress and living on a cattle ranch in northern Mexico until he was appointed as US Minister to various countries in Central America in 1890.

Pacheco returned to California in 1893 and died in 1899.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Luis Negrón, Lambda Literary Award winner

Luis Negron, born in Guyama, Puerto Rico in 1970, is a writer, living in Santurce, Puerto Rico.  His debut short story collection, Mundo Cruel, was published in 2010.  Its stories focus on gay life in Santurce, and has been printed five times in Spanish, and an English translation was published in 2013.  

Mundo Cruel won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction at the 26th Lambda Literary Awards in 2014.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Eddie Palmieri, winner of first Grammy for Latin music

Eddie Palmieri at the piano

Eddie Palmieri, born December 15, 1936 in New York City, is a Latin-American musician who won the first Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording ever awarded in February 1976 for his album Sun of Latin Music.  He assembled his first band when he was 14 in 1950 and after playing in several bands, he released his first album La Perfecta in 1962.  Sun of Latin Music is his 19th album. 

In late 2005, Palmieri teamed up with Brian Lynch and recorded the CD The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico that included many jazz artists.  It won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz recording in 2007.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Thomas Gomez, first and only Hispanic actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Gomez, born July 10, 1905 in New York City, was the first actor of Hispanic descent (and to date, the only Hispanic actor) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  His first film appearance was in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942.  In 1947, he appeared as Pancho in Ride the Pink Horse with Robert Montgomery. His performance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar, becoming the first Hispanic actor to receive this nomination.

He appeared in The Conqueror with John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, and William Conrad.  Gomez continued to act in movies and television, including an episode of Bewitched, appearing with Agnes Moorehead and Robert Montgomery's daughter, Elizabeth.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Pablo Morales, Olympic gold medalist

Pablo Morales, born December 5, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois to Cuban immigrants, won gold medals in swimming at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics.  He also set world records in the 100 m butterfly in 1984 and 1986.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Morales won a gold for the 4x100 m relay and two silver medals for the butterfly, setting the world record. Unfortunately, he did not qualify for the 1988 Olympics, and retired from the sport. 

He returned to swimming and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he won the gold in the 100 m butterfly.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Salvador Felices, first Puerto Rican Major General in US Air Force

 

Salvador Enrique Felices, born August 13, 1923 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was the first Puerto Rican to reach the rank of major general in the United States Air Force.  He joined the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Puerto Rico. He entered West Point, the US Military Academy in New York, and took flying lessons.  He received his pilots wings in June 1946 and graduated as a second lieutenant.

He flew 19 combat missions during the Korean War as combat operations officer with the 344th Bombardment Squadron.  In June 1968, he was named commander of the 306th Bombardment Wing and flew 39 combat missions during the Vietnam War. 

In 1969, he became the commander of the 823rd Air Division at McCoy AFB in Florida. He was promoted to major general on April 2, 1973 and became vice commander of the Sixteenth AFB in Spain.  He retired from the Air Force in 1974. He passed away from natural causes in July 1987.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Joe Gandara, recipient of Medal of Honor

Joe Gandara, born April 25, 1924 in Santa Monica, California to Mexican immigrants, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2014.  He joined the army in February 1943.  In June 1944, Private Gandara and his detachment came under fire in Amfreville, France, from a German force, and were pinned down for four hours.  Private Gandara volunteered to advance solo toward the enemy's position.  He fired his machine gun from the hip and destroyed three hostile machine guns before he was killed.  

He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a March 18, 2014 ceremony as part of a review through the Defense Authorization Act which called for a review of Jewish American and Hispanic American veterans from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to ensure no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Katya Echazarreta, first Mexican-American woman in space

Katya Echazarreta, born June 15, 1995 in Guadalajara, Mexico, is the first female Mexican-American astronaut.  She was selected as part of Space for Humanity's Citizen Astronaut Program.  She went into space aboard Blue Origin NS-21 launched in June 2022 for a sub-orbital flight, lasting 10 minutes, 5 seconds. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Steve Bellan, first Latin-American to play major league baseball

Esteban Enrique "Steve" Bellan, born October 1, 1849 in Havana, Cuba, is the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the US.  He attended school at what is now know as the Fordham University in the Bronx, from 1866 to 1868. He joined the Live Oaks, a Second Division baseball team.  After graduation, he played a season for the Union of Morrisania, a member of the NABBP, and helped them win the national championship in 1868.  He joined the Troy Haymakers in 1869.  

Sometime after that he went to the New York Mutuals until 1873.  Bellan moved by to Cuba to play in their baseball leagues.  He played for Club Habana and beat Club Matanzas on December 27, 1874, in the first organized baseball game in Cuba.  He has been called the Father of Cuban Baseball for his role in organizing the game.

He passed away in Havana, Cuba in 1932.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Edward James Olmos, first American-born Hispanic to receive Oscar nod for Best Actor

Edward James Olmos, born February 24, 1947 in East Los Angeles, is the first American-born Hispanic to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He received the nomination for his work in the movie Stand and Deliver.  The award went to Dustin Hoffman that year for Rain Man.

He has won numerous other awards: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror film for Best Actor on Television for Battlestar Galactica; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Miami Vice; two Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television. He has also been nominated for a Tony Award.

Olmos has been an advocate for diversified roles and images for Latinos in movies and on television.  He was offered the part of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but turned it down. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Bill Melendez, Primetime Emmy winning animator for the Peanuts

Bill Melendez, born November 15, 1918 in Sonora, Mexico, was a character animator, director, and producer.  He worked for Walt Disney Productions, Warner Brothers, and UPA before working on the Peanuts animated series.

Although being born in Mexico, Melendez attended school in Douglas, Arizona and Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts).  He started at Disney in 1938 where he worked on some of the classic movies: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.  

In 1941, he went to Leon Schlesinger Productions (now Warner Bros Cartoons) where he worked on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. He was hired to do animated TV commercials in 1959, featuring characters from the comic strip Peanuts. 

Charles Schulz trusted Melendez to turn the Peanuts into televisions specials.  He worked on every single TV special for the Peanuts and directed most of them.  He also provided the voices for Snoopy and Woodstock. The last special he worked on was He's a Bully, Charlie Brown in 2006.

He passed away in 2008 at the age of 91.

He won 7 Primetime Emmys: Outstanding Children's Program in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas; Outstanding Children's Special in 1975 for Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus; Outstanding Children's Special in 1976 for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown; Outstanding Individual Achievement - Animation Program in 1979 for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; Outstanding Animated Program in 1981 for Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown; Outstanding Animated Program in 1984 for Garfield on the Town; Outstanding Animated Program in 1987 for Cathy.  He was nominated for 19 more Primetime Emmys.  He was nominated for an Oscar and five Grammy Awards. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Oscar De La Hoya, Mexican-American boxer extraordinaire

Oscar De La Hoya, born February 4, 1973 in East Los Angeles, California, is the first boxer in history to win world titles in six different weight divisions: Super featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight, and Middleweight.

Over his career of 45 professional boxing fights, he won 39 times, with only 6 losses. 

De La Hoya took home the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic games, and he was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1995.  In 2008, he was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Richie Valens, Chicano rock and roll pioneer

Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenquela May 13, 1941 in Los Angeles, California, was a pioneer in rock and roll and a forefather of Chicano rock.  He scored several hits over his short career including La Bamba, which he adapted from a Mexican folk song.  He died February 3, 1959, in a plane crash when he was just 17 years old.  It was the same crash that killed Buddy Holly, J. P. Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson.  

He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Robert Garcia, first Latino member of Congress

Robert Garcia, born December 2, 1977 in Lima, Peru, is the first fully Latino and LGBT member of US Congress.  He immigrated to the US with his mother at the age of 5.  He attended California State University, Long Beach and later got his master's Degree at University of Southern California.

In 2009, he was elected to the Long Beach City Council.  In 2012, he was unanimously elected to Vice Mayor of Long Beach, becoming the first Latino Vice Mayor and youngest in Long Beach's history. 

Garcia ran for mayor in 2015 and was reelected in April 2018. 

He announced his candidacy for California's 42nd congressional district in the US House of Representatives.