Dolores Huerta is one of the most iconic civil rights activists in the United States. As cofounder of the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW), Dolores worked on the Delano grape strike in 1965, along with César Chávez. After 5 years, the grape boycott culminated with the signing of the California Labor Relations Act, the first law in the country that recognized the right of farm worker unions to negotiate contracts with the agricultural industry.

Sylvia Rivera was a fearless advocate for the rights of the transgender community. She was there in 1969 at the turning point of the modern LGBTQ struggle for equal rights, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn violently rebuffed a police raid. Rivera campaigned with the Gay Activist Alliance in urging the city to enact a nondiscrimination ordinance. She also co-founded STAR, the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. In the 1990s Rivera was embraced as a key figure of the LGBTQ movement.

Celia Cruz’s dynamic performances, rich voice, and flamboyant attire brought her to Havana’s famed Tropicana nightclub in the 50s. In 1959, after Castro seized power in Cuba, Cruz left the island for New York City. By the 70s, when salsa hit its peak and filled the nightclubs, she had become its queen. Her songs also became a tie to Cuba for exiles living in the U.S. and around the world. Upon her death, the Freedom Tower honored her with a large memorial with over 200,000 people in attendance.

Rita Moreno has broken the mold for Latina performers. In 1961, she portrayed Anita in the film West Side Story. Transplanted as a child from Puerto Rico to New York City, Moreno said of her character, “I knew this girl... I’ve been Anita.” Her performance earned her an Oscar, a historic first for a Latina. Other major entertainment awards she has garnered include a Tony, two Emmys, a Grammy, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She has also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pura Belpré was a talented author and storyteller who wrote and re-interpreted Puerto Rican folk tales. In 1921, she became the first Puerto Rican librarian in the New York Public Library system. While there, Belpré was inspired to write Peréz y Martina, retelling a traditional Caribbean folktale. Belpré wrote more than a dozen books, working as a librarian in NYC for the rest of her career. Since 1996, the annual Pura Belpré Award honors outstanding Latino literature for children and youth.

Julia de Burgos, born February 17, 1914, has come to be considered one of the most influential Puerto Rican and Latin American poets of the twentieth century. She was also a civil rights activist for women and an advocate for Puerto Rican independence.

Sandra Cisneros is one of the most prominent Latina voices in American Literature. She published her first work in 1984, The House on Mango Street, earning her the coveted American Book Award. In 1995, she became the first Latina to be a MacArthur Fellow. In 2016, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Barack Obama. In 1984, she was the director of the literary program at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.

At just age 8, Sylvia Mendez played an instrumental role in the desegregation of schools with the Mendez v. Westminster case of 1946. In 1945, Sylvia Mendez was denied entry to the all-white Westminster Elementary School because of her Mexican heritage. Her parents Felicitas Mendez and Gonzalo Mendez filed a lawsuit and won, ending segregation of Mexican-American students in the Westminster School District. Today, Sylvia continues to advocate for education equality for all children.

In 1993 Dr. Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina and Mexican American to go to space when she flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Later, in 2013, Ochoa became the first Hispanic and second woman named Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas. Ochoa has inspired many to follow in her footsteps as a physicist and astronaut. She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and has six schools named after her in four U.S. states!

In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina and third woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. She is one of the most visible members of the bench, tossing the first pitch at a Yankees game, dropping the ball at Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2013, and touring with her memoir, My Beloved World. A self-described Nuyorican (New York-Puerto Rican) raised by her mother in a Bronx housing project, her determination and discipline led to Princeton and Yale Law School degrees.

"Why can’t a 41-year-old mom try for an Olympic team?” With this goal in mind, Dara Torres brought home three silver medals at 41, turning the Cuban American swimmer into an icon for older athletes. From 1984 to 2008, Torres swam in a record-setting five Olympic Games, won 12 medals, and became the oldest Olympian to ever make the U.S. swim team. In 2020, at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Dara was inducted to the Jewish American Hall of Fame.

The exhibition Presente! A Latino History of the United States showcases U.S. history through the Latino lens. One of the signature objects for this exhibition is the Tree of Life, crafted by San Antonio artist Veronica Castillo. As the tree rotates visitors can see figures and images of Latinas and Latinos who have contributed to U.S. Latino history. Women from the Nuestra America book series, like Celia Cruz, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Dolores Huerta, and Pura Belpre are highlighted.

The Molina Family Latino Gallery is the first physical presence of the National Museum of the American Latino. The 4,500-square-foot gallery is now open at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Exhibitions in the Latino Gallery will present bilingual stories for multigenerational and cross-cultural audiences featuring multimedia, physical objects, and first-person voices.